Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson prefers the creation of a Negros Island Region (NIR) over the proposed sub regions.
“I hope the sub regions are just a transition…we really want to have our NIR,” Lacson said on Monday, November 21.
Negros Island representatives have filed a bill for the creation of the NIR, which will include the provinces of Negros Occidental and Oriental, and Siquijor.
The creation of Regions 6 (Western Visayas) and 7 (Central Visayas) sub regions instead of the NIR could “be a good compromise for us to move forward”, Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said on Friday.
The Department of Budget and Management 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, he said.
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.
Lacson said if offices of the different departments are established in Negros Occidental under the proposed sub region that will be good because Negrenses will not have to travel to Iloilo.
“That alone is already a big improvement. The question is will we have our own Regional Development Council?” Lacson asked.
The governor also wants to know what the rank of the government personnel running the sub regional offices in Negros Occidental will be.
“My understanding is that this (the sub region) is just temporary, what our representatives really want is to have an NIR,” Lacson.
“The creation of a sub region is just a proposal, there should be more explanation on how it will function,” the governor said.
The degree of autonomy of the satellite offices in the sub regions is being discussed, Benitez said earlier.*