THE House of Representatives has unanimously approved on third and final reading a measure creating the Negros Island Region (NIR) in the Visayas.
Garnering 290 affirmative votes during nominal voting on Monday was House Bill (HB) No. 7355, titled, “An Act establishing the Negros Island Region, and appropriating funds therefor’.
The formation of the NIR has been a pipe dream for lawmakers in the region, as they believe that it would bring more progress and solidarity among their constituents.
The measure gained traction in the 19th Congress under the administration of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
It is one of the 12 priority measures of the Marcos administration that the House of Representatives under the leadership of Speaker Martin Romualdez vowed to pass this year.
Some of the principal authors of the bill are Negros Occidental Reps. Juliet Marie de Leon Ferrer, Alfredo D. Marañon III, and Francisco “Kiko” Benitez, and Abang Lingkod Party-list Rep. Joseph Stephen “Caraps” S. Paduano.
Under HB No. 7355, the NIR will be composed of provinces, including the cities, municipalities, and barangays located in the provinces of Negros Oriental, Negros Occidental, and Siquijor, including Bacolod City.
Under HB No. 7355, the NIR will be composed of provinces, including the cities, municipalities, and barangays located in the provinces of Negros Oriental, Negros Occidental, and Siquijor, including Bacolod City.
The measure provides for the creation of the Negros Island technical working group (TWG). It will be composed of representatives from the Office of the President, the Department of Budget and Management, the Department of the Interior and Local Government, the representatives
of the Office of the Governor of the provinces of Negros Oriental, Negros Occidental, and Siquijor, and all the elected district representatives of the said provinces, including the representative of
Bacolod City.
“The TWG shall formulate strategic plans to put in place the institutional arrangements for the NIR; recommend to the Office of the President the preferred location of the Regional Center; arrange the
requirements for the organizational development, staffing, and budgeting of regional line and regulatory agencies, as well as the imperatives for development planning and investment programming,” the
bill stated.
The measure also specifies a task for the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).
