Nine Negros Island representatives filed a bill seeking the creation of an expanded Negros Island Region before the House of Representatives on Wednesday, Rep. Francisco Benitez (Neg. Occ., 3rd District) said Thursday, July 7.
House Bill 1446 seeks to create Region VI- B composed of the provinces of Negros Occidental and Oriental and Siquijor, he said.
Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, who is expected to be the next Senate president, told DIGICAST NEGROS he also filed a bill seeking the creation of the NIR, composed of Negros Occidental and Oriental, in the Senate on Wednesday.
The expanded NIR bill in the Lower House was introduced by Benitez, Joseph Stephen Paduano (Abang Lingkod), Gerardo Valmayor Jr. (Neg. Occ., 1st District), Emilio Bernardino Yulo (Neg. Occ., 5th District), Mercedes Alvarez (Neg. Occ., 6th District), Greg Gasataya (Bacolod), Jocelyn Sy-Limkaichong (Neg. Or., 1st District), Manuel Sagarbarria (Neg. Or., 2nd District) and Arnolfo Teves Jr. (Neg. Or., 3rd District).
Earlier Rep. Alfredo Marañon III (Neg. Occ., 2nd District) and Rep. Juliet Marie Ferrer (Neg. Occ., 4th District) filed separate bills seeking the creation of the NIR composed of Negros Occidental and Oriental.
The nine Negros representatives, in the explanatory note to their expanded NIR bill, said in 2017 due to the substantial funding requirement for the full operation of regional offices in the NIR, EO No. 183 (s. 2015) creating it was revoked.
“The dream of consolidating the two Negros provinces – Oriental and Occidental – in one administrative region, however, continues to live on – an aspiration that is deeply grounded in their histories,” they said.
For 300 years under the Spanish colonial government, Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental were governed as a single province. It was only in 1890 that Negros was divided into two provinces, they said.
The two Negros provinces united again in establishing the cantonal government of Negros, popularly called the “Republic of Negros” but officially the Gobierno Republicano Federal del Canton de Ysla de Negros or Federal Republican Government of the Canton of Negros Island, in 1898 after the surrender of Spanish colonial authorities in Negros Occidental, they added.
The autonomy of the Negros Canton was short-lived – undermined first by the establishment of a unitary government under the Malolos Constitution, then by American occupation.
Negros Occidental and Oriental had henceforward taken different trajectories, the nine representatives said.
Their destinies, however, converge on one commodity: sugar.
“The sugar industry has shaped the provinces’ history, economy and culture. Negros Island accounts for half of the country’s total sugarcane production,” they said.
The Island’s economic dependence on sugar, however, has made it vulnerable to price fluctuations in the world market, they pointed out.
“The challenge is to transform the economy of Negros Island to ensure that economic growth redounds to the benefit of the people. Here, the close economic coordination of the two Negros provinces is most crucial. Re-unifying the two Negros provinces under one administrative region therefore becomes necessary,” they said.
They also said in view of its proximity and cultural similarities, the inclusion of Siquijor province to the proposed Region VI-B is logical and practical.
“Greater economic coordination will strengthen economies of scale in the provinces of Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, and Siquijor, and will consolidate separate development plans into a coherent, complementary roadmap for sustainable and inclusive economic growth for the provinces,” they said.
Negros Occidental is currently part of Region 6 and Negros Oriental and Siquijor are part of Region 7.*