The House of Representatives is waiting for the position paper of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) on the proposed bills to create a Negros Island Region (NIR), Rep. Mercedes Alvarez (Neg. Occ., 6th District) said on Thursday, November 24.
“The most important paper is the one from the DBM, nothing will happen if there are no funds,” she said.
Rep. Rex Gatchalian (Valenzuela City, 1st District), chairman of the House Committee on Local Government, has appointed Alvarez co-chair of the Technical Working Group (TWG) tasked with consolidating the NIR bills.
Alvarez said Negros Oriental has also not submitted its position paper yet.
The TWG is doing its best to follow up the submission of the position papers but there are only three more weeks left before the House goes on Christmas break, Alvarez said.
If they are not submitted before then the TWG will have to convene in January, she added.
The NIR has been certified by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as a priority measure, which Congress will take into consideration, she said.
The proposal to create sub regions for Western and Central Visayas instead of the NIR have not been formally put on the table by any of the members of the House because the TWG has not convened yet, Alvarez said.
The DBM and the National Economic and Development Authority have proposed that instead of making Negros Occidental and Oriental and Siquijor part of one region, Region 6B and Region 7B should instead be created to address the clamor for efficient delivery of services, Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said earlier.
Under Region 6B all national government offices based in Iloilo will have satellite offices to serve Negros Occidental and Bacolod where people can transact business without having to go to Iloilo, he said.
The Region 7B sub-region will also have similar offices to serve Negros Oriental and Siquijor so residents will not have to go to Cebu, Benitez added.
Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said he prefers the NIR over the subregions.*