Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez is proposing that the Negros Island Region (NIR) be renamed to NASIR.
NASIR would be the acronym for “Negros and Siquijor Island Region”, Benitez said on Tuesday, June 25.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on June 13 signed the law creating the NIR composed of Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental and Siquijor.
There have been calls for the inclusion of Siquijor in the name of the new region.
Benitez said the name of the new region could be tackled by the Technical Working Committee drafting the Internal Rules and Regulations of the NIR.
It’s just a suggestion that hopefully the TWG can consider, he said.
He is also proposing that NIR would still be considered part of the Western Visayas area. That means WV would have two regions – Region 6 and NASIR, he said.
Benitez said Negros Occidental is not divorcing from Region 6. It should be considered like a child who decided to get married so it is not a subtraction but an addition, he said.
Meanwhile, Benitez said he will resign as chairman of the Regional Development Council of WV when NIR becomes operational.
Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said he will push for Benitez to be the first RDC chairman of NIR.
But there is no call for submission of names for RDC chairman of the NIR yet, he said.
He does not know if an RDC chairman for the NIR will be appointed right away since the filing of certificates of candidacy for the May 2025 polls will be in October already, Lacson said.*