The proposed budget for the newly created Negros Island Region (NIR) in the National Expenditure Program (NEP) for Fiscal Year 2026 is P105.35 billion, Rep. Mercedes Alvarez (Neg. Occ., 6th District) said on Thursday, August 21.
The 2026 NEP also sets the budget for Region VI (Western Visayas) at P198.74 billion, or P37. 8 billion lower than its P236.59 billion in the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA), data furnished by Alvarez showed.
The Region VII (Central Visayas) budget is set at P234.94 billion or P21.58 billion lower than its P256.52 billion in the 2025 GAA.
The decrease in appropriations for Regions VI and VII is mainly due to Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental and Siquijor now being part of the NIR, Alvarez said.
Negros Occidental was previously part of Region VI and Negros Oriental and Siquijor were part of Region VII.
However, when the total allocations for all the three Visayas regions are combined, the amount still shows an overall increase of P45.92 billion , or 9.31 percent, rising from P493.12 billion in the 2025 GAA to P539.05 billion in the 2026 proposed NEP, Alvarez said.
The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has submitted its proposed P6.793-trillion 2026 NEP to the House of Representatives, which includes the amounts for the three Visayas regions.
The NEP, which outlines the national government’s proposed spending plan for 2026, serves as the basis for the General Appropriations Bill (GAB). Once the GAB is approved by both the House and the Senate, the GAB is signed into law by the President, it will be known as the 2026 General Appropriations Act.
Data furnished by Alvarez also showed that as of July 31, the DBM had already approved the creation of the NIR Offices of ten national government agencies.
The national government agencies are:
• Department of the Interior and Local Government – 23 positions
• Department of Public Works and Highways – 51 positions
• Department of Health – 22 positions
• Department of Budget and Management – 21 positions
• Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, Department of Labor and Employment – 11 positions
• Department of Tourism – 13 positions
• National Nutrition Council, DOH – 6
• National Wages and Productivity Commission, DOLE – 10 positions
• Commission on Elections – 8 positions
• National Intelligence Coordinating Agency – 22 positions.*