NEGROS Occidental Fifth District Board Member Alain Gatuslao said the proposals to adopt a federal form of government may ultimately repeal Executive Order 183 that created the Negros Island Region (NIR).
Once the Constitution is amended, all affected laws, rules and executive issuances will either be repealed or amended accordingly such as the Local Government Code or Republic Act 7160.
“I cannot say what will happen because it’s not clear what kind of federalist set-up we will adopt,” said Gatuslao, chairman of committee on laws, rules and ordinances.
Third District Representative Alfredo Benitez had earlier said he will look into the call to pass a law creating the NIR to see if it jibes with the proposed delineations under a federal system of government.
Only three federal states are being proposed for the Visayas – Central, Western and Eastern Visayas.
“Let us see if it can be further divided to include an NIR state,” he said.
Gatuslao added that they came up with a conclusion after meeting and discussing with their fellow board members in Negros Oriental that the two provinces can benefit a lot being in one region or one state.
“Honestly, I think with the exception of the President, there is probably no one who knows the details regarding the shift to federalism or the timeline. We have not even finalized the mode of amending the Constitution," he added.
“So in the meantime, we should not stop working on the NIR bill because as of now there is no conflict. The moves to pass a law creating an NIR is a good move,” he said.
“An EO may be repealed at anytime by the President. But a Republic Act will be more difficult to change or later repealed,” he further said.
“The NIR bill could even provide for minimum automatic appropriations for its budget,” Gatuslao added.
