President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday disclosed that he is set to sign into law a bill creating the Negros Island Region.
‘’I think, it makes sense because it’s very difficult for (Negros) Oriental to be serviced in a regional center. It has been a problem for a long time, so it needs to be resolved. Until we can consolidate, I can put it all together properly, and right now, it has not been fixed,’’ Marcos told reporters.
‘’It is very hard to bring government services to the people. And, that’s the reason behind the regional, the push for making it a single region so that it can have (its own) a regional office. And it’s probably a good idea even if only for that,’’ he said. ‘’ Yeah, I think, I will sign it.’’
The Senate ratified last month the measure Senate Bill 2507 creating the Negros Island Region.
The projected Negros Region will be composed of Negros Occidental, Bacolod City, Negros Oriental, and Siquijor.
Senator JV Ejercito, sponsor of the measure, said the idea is for the six clusters of regional offices to be divided between the two halves of the island to ensure the effective delivery of services.
The counterpart measure of the bill in the House of Representatives was passed in March 2023.
Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said earlier that residents of Negros Occidental who have transactions with national government agencies were often stuck in Iloilo due to inclement weather. He said the same scenario happened to the people of Negros Oriental and Siquijor who had to go to Cebu to transact with national government offices.
He noted that creation of the Negros Island Region would be a “dream come true for the people of Negros and Siquijor since government services would be more accessible to them.”
Once enacted into law, the measure mandates the formation of a technical working group composed of the National Economic and Development Authority, the Department of the Interior and Local Government as secretariat, the Department of Budget and Management, representatives of the office of the governors of the affected provinces, and representatives from all congressmen of these provinces.