Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri will report to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Saturday, September 22, that the governors of Negros Occidental and Oriental, and Siquijor are now all in agreement on the creation of the Negros Island Region (NIR), Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said.
The impression that they got from their meeting with Zubiri on Thursday is that if the three provinces all support the NIR, the president will sign its creation into law, Lacson said on Friday.
Negros Occidental Gov. Lacson and Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer, Negros Oriental Gov. Manuel Sagarbarria and Vice Governor Jaime Reyes, and Siquijor Gov. Jake Villa met with Zubiri, Senator Joseph Victor Ejercito and Special Assistant to the President Antonio Ernesto Lagdameo in Manila.
Zubiri told them that the president knew about the meeting and asked him to give a report on the outcome, Lacson said.
The president wants to know it all are in agreement on the NIR creation, Zubiri said.
Lacson said the meeting “went very well, considering that there was a meeting of the minds already between the three provinces”.
Zubiri said the eventual construction of regional offices for the NIR can be done in phases so it will not cost government too much all at once.
The Senate president committed to the passage of the NIR bill in the Senate by December, Lacson said.
Negros Occidental is currently part of Region 6 (Western Visayas) and Negros Oriental and Siquijor are part of Region 7 (Central Visayas).
“It is our job to bring government closer to our people, and this is why we are committed to reestablishing the Negros Island Region (NIR) once again”, Zubiri said
With the full support of the leadership of the concerned provinces, Zubiri said he is hopeful that the push for the NIR will prosper anew.
The provinces of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental have already agreed upon the list of which government agencies and offices should be located in which province, with Siquijor’s agreement, he said.
They are set to submit the list to Sen. Ejercito’s Senate Committee on Local Government, for consideration.
“The Negros region is so full of potential, and if we bring our services closer to the people, that will surely translate to unprecedented development for our provinces”, Zubiri said.*