The Negros Oriental Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (NOCCII) has reiterated its call for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to sign the creation of the Negros Island Region (NIR) into law, in a second open letter in response to claims made by the Diocese of Dumaguete.
The NOCCII in its open letter signed by its president Edward Du, dated May 2, said the business community of Negros Oriental wishes to refute the claim of the Diocese of Dumaguete that the creation of NIR would violate the 1987 Constitution and requires the conduct of a plebiscite.
The bill seeking the creation of the NIR composed of Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental and Siquijor has been sent to the Office of the President. Marcos during a visit to Bacolod last month said he would sign it into law.
“The constitutionality and validity of creating a new administrative region (not
autonomous region like ARMM) has already been long settled and proven
valid by the creation of the CARAGA Administrative Region (Region 13) via Republic Act 7901 in 1995 without the conduct of a plebiscite,” Du said.
“The reason why a plebiscite was not conducted for the creation of Region 13 (CARAGA Region) is simply because the 1987 Constitution does not require a plebiscite for the creation of new administrative regions,” he pointed out.
Under the 1987 Constitution, plebiscite is required only for autonomous
regions like the Bangsamoro autonomous region in Muslim Mindanao
and the Cordillera Autonomous Region, Du said.
Trade and commerce, investment promotions and tax collections of each province will not be affected by the NIR, he also said.
The NIR will not also diminish the tourism and cultural ties of Cebu, Negros
Oriental, and Bohol, Du added. The NIR is purely an administrative regrouping to bring national government services closer to the poor people of Negros Oriental by establishing 16 new regional offices in the province, Du said.
Administrative regions themselves are not territorial nor political divisions like provinces, cities, municipalities, and barangays but are “mere” groupings of contiguous provinces for administrative purposes only, he added.
On the Diocese of Dumaguete’s claim that the NIR idea should be rejected for lack of economic/feasibility study, Du said an economic study was undertaken by Dr. Wilma Tejero of Silliman University in 2014 that endorsed the creation of NIR.
Du also refuted the Diocese of Dumaguete claim that the creation of NIR is unnecessary and wasteful.
During the two-year successful implementation of NIR from 2015 to 2017, objectives and mandates were met without spending billions of pesos, Du said.
The people of Negros Oriental did not have to travel 5 to 6 hours to and from Cebu City and pay hotel expenses simply because the 16 regional offices
were all located in Negros Oriental, he added
During the two-year successful implementation of NIR from 2015 to 2017, objectives and mandates were met without spending billions of pesos. Du said.
The economic benefits of putting up 16 new regional offices in Negros Oriental far outweigh the benefits of a NECEBOLEY (Negros Oriental, Cebu, Bohol and Leyte) Bridge Project, he said.
This is simply because the people of Negros Oriental need not have to cross the NECEBOLEY bridge and travel 5-6 hours in grueling traffic to Cebu City if all the 16 new regional offices are established in Negros Oriental, Du pointed out.*