MAYBE it’s time for Negros congressmen to file a bill that will legally and formally create the Negros Island Region (NIR).
This was stated by former Negros Occidental governor Rafael Coscolluela Monday, October 10, following the statement of Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Lloyd Dino that the fate of the NIR still hangs because of the move to shift to federal form of government and budgetary constraints.
Coscolluela actively campaigned for the creation of the one-island region when he was governor in the 1990s, and it was only two decades later that the NIR was finally created through an Executive Order 183 signed by former president Benigno Aquino III on May 29, 2015.
He said that it is the budget problem that is pushing the speculations on the abolition of the new region.
Coscolluela added that while the push of the National Government for federalism may supersede the NIR, the question is to which region Negros Island will belong.
“I just hope our efforts do not go to waste,” Cosolluela said.
Yves Akol, secretary general of the ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) in NIR, said in a statement, “The flagship of the PRRD administration is federalism aside from the fight on drugs, crime, and corruption.”
He pointed out that NIR was created by an executive order, not by congressional act, adding that the Section 4 on funding was in reference to the NIR Technical Working Group only and subject to availability of funds.
There was no budget passed for approval in Congress by then Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, he added.
“Secretary Dino is saying that due to these facts, it might be superseded by federalism… We humbly ask everybody to wait for the decision of Congress on the matter,” Akol added.
Negros Occidental vice Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said, “What we need now is a budget for personnel services, and maintenance and other operating expenses. The infra could be done in phases. Surely this will not entail P19 billion for 2017.”
Members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan had earlier agreed to consult the respective congressmen in their districts regarding the push for the NIR bill.
Lacson said the creation of the NIR through legislative action “will make the (existence of the) region stronger.”
Fifth District Board Member Alain Gatuslao expressed hope that “Malacañang and our representatives in Congress will exert best efforts to save it.”
“The NIR is a three-decade long initiative that almost all Negrenses have been united in pushing for. We have already started to build linkages with our brothers and sisters in Oriental,” Gatuslao added.
