The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) have conducted site inspections for their respective Negros Island Region (NIR) regional offices in Bacolod City.
In a report on Monday, the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOCPPO) said the proposed location of the Police Regional Office-(PRO-NIR) Regional Finance Service Unit (RFSU) inside Camp Alfredo M. Montelibano Sr. underwent assessment during the visit of the concerned officials on Feb. 12.
The former Area Police Command Visayas building has been identified as the site, which was inspected by PNP Finance Service Chief of Staff Col. Dennis Artil and RFSU-Western Visayas (Region 6) Chief Col. Paul Jady Doles, together with NOCPPO Director Col. Rainerio De Chavez.
“The site visit is part of the ongoing evaluation process to ensure that the office space will meet the requirements necessary for the efficient functioning of RFSU and contribute to the overall improvement of PNP services in the area,” the NOCPPO said.
De Chavez said preparations are underway for the PRO-NIR headquarters, which will be temporarily housed inside the same camp.
However, no definite launch date has been set for the official opening of PRO-NIR.
Meanwhile, the DBM is also establishing its NIR regional office inside the Carlos Hilado Memorial State University (CHMSU) Alijis campus in Bacolod.
After the team led by Assistant Director Philip Jeffrey David of the Local Government and Regional Coordination Bureau conducted an ocular inspection on Feb. 13, Undersecretary Wilford Will Wong, functional group head of the Local Government and Regional Operations Group, will also arrive for a site visit on Tuesday.
In a statement, CHMSU president Norberto Mangulabnan said he sought the approval of the CHMSU Board of Regents to allot a budget for the provision of the DBM regional office in the Alijis Campus.
The CHMSU Alijis Campus also hosts the National Economic and Development Authority-NIR office, which was blessed on Feb. 6 along with the signing of a usufruct agreement between Mangulabnan and NEDA-NIR officer-in-charge Regional Director Arecio Casing Jr., in the presence of NEDA Undersecretary Carlos Bernardo Abad Santos.
In June last year, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. signed into law Republic Act 12000 or the NIR Act, creating a new administrative region comprising the provinces of Negros Occidental, including the highly-urbanized Bacolod City, Negros Oriental and Siquijor.
The NIR Act separates Negros Occidental and Bacolod City from Western Visayas, and Negros Oriental and Siquijor from Central Visayas.*PNA