Senator Imee Marcos said on Thursday, March 9, that the proposed Negros Island Region sounds like a good idea but she still needs to study the bill seeking its creation.
“I haven’t studied it completely but I’ve heard so much about it already. I don’t think I’m in a position to say yes or no right now simply because I haven’t looked at it carefully,” she said at a press conference held at the private beach resort of of the Yanson family in Talisay City, Negros Occidental.
“But it sounds like a good idea quite frankly because in this day and age you really have to group together to be able to negotiate better for goods and services from the government,” she added.
The NIR will enable Negrenses to stick together to have a louder voice for the sugar industry, infrastructure allocations, and for safety nets for the poor and marginalized sectors, she said.
“It’s always a good idea to be united and speak with a louder voice,” she said.
The House of Representatives unanimously approved House Bill 7355 creating the NIR composed of Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental and Siquijor on third and final reading on Monday, March 6, and it is now up to the Senate to deliberate on its counterpart measure.
Sen. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito, Senate Committee on Local Government chair, told DIGICAST NEGROS on Thursday that another hearing on the Senate counterpart measure will be held.
“The first Committee hearing is already done but since there was an opposition from the late Gov. (Roel) Degamo of Negros Oriental, I purposely delayed the next hearing so that both provincial governors could resolve issues and reach an agreement,” he said.
Ejercito said he had to respect the position of Negros Oriental.
“Let’s give it time out of respect for the late Gov. Degamo first. We’ll call another hearing to hear the positions of the two provinces to be fair,” he added.
Senator Marcos was in Negros Occidental for the distribution of P9 million in Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS) in three Negros Occidental cities on Thursday.
There were 3,000 recipients from Kabankalan, Bacolod and Silay cities who received P3,000 each, she said.*