Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo said he is at ease having the two Negros provinces under Negros Island Region (NIR) despite the lack of budget for the new region.
“We have been effective under the NIR. The Department of Education performed well in the recent Palarong Pambansa,” said Degamo, who was in Bacolod City on Wednesday, May 10, to preside the Regional Peace and Order Council meeting.
"Even with the army and the police, there's no hassle in their operation under the present set up with the NIR,” Degamo added.
Degamo said Negros Oriental is continuously working for the retention of the NIR.
Meanwhile, Undersecretary Jesus Hinlo of the Department of the Interior and Local Government said the longer President Rodrigo Duterte decides on NIR would be better because that means that he is still studying it.
“Better that we are still retained until this time. Let's hope that the president will be properly guided with his decision,” he said.
Hinlo reiterated his appeal to Negrenses to continue the lobby for NIR retention until the Duterte decides.
