Rep. Mercedes Alvarez (Neg. Occ., 6th District) said on Saturday, March 23, that the proposed Negros Island Region Act met no opposition during a Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) meeting and she is hopeful that President Ferdinand Marcos will sign it into law before his next State of the Nation Address.
The Lower House adopted the Senate’s version of the NIR Act and it is expected to be transmitted to Malacañang by April, she said.
“It went through LEDAC without any opposition,” she said.
The NIR Act, which is part of the LEDAC priority measures, proposes to bring the provinces of Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, and Siquijor together under one administrative region.
The NIR Act is 99 percent done, and is sure to get the President’s signature as part of his administration’s priority measures, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said earlier.
Meanwhile, Alvarez is now a member of the powerful Commission on Appointments of Congress. She said the new chairman of the House Committee on Local Government, which she previously headed, is Rep. Manuel Sagarbarria (Neg. Or., 2nd District).*