“If Senator Imee (Marcos) cares about Negros I suppose she will support the NIR (Negros Island Region),” Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said Sunday, September 10.
Marcos, at a press conference in Bacolod City on Friday, said the creation of the NIR should be “economically viable”.
The House of Representatives has approved a bill seeking the creation of the NIR composed Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental and Siquijor. A counterpart measure is still pending in the Senate.
“If you’re going to set up a new area, it should be viable economically. It should be worth it because you will be setting up offices. That’s costly,” Marcos said.
Marcos said she does not have a stand yet on the NIR, which is up for hearings in the Senate.
She heard about the proposed NIR a long time ago and there was the “argument that it was not feasible economically. I don’t know what the revivalist have to say…we have to listen first,” Marcos said.
“The financial viability of the NIR is an old line of reasoning that has been used before,” Lacson said.
“While it may be costly, the economic impact on both provinces is tremendous, and if Sen. Imee cares about Negros, I suppose she will support the NIR,” he said.
The national government spent a fortune creating the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and continues to do so, Lacson pointed out.
Lacson said he is still confident the NIR will happen during the Marcos administration, “but it should happen not later than June 2024, otherwise election, 2025 will be the focus”.
Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, during a recent visit to Negros Occidental, pledged the passage of the NIR bill in the Senate by December.*