Gov questions subregions proposal

BACOLOD CITY: While not totally opposing it, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson has raised questions on the proposal of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) to create two subregions for Negros pending the passage of bills establishing the Negros Island Region (NIR).

The proposal suggests that Negros Occidental and Bacolod City shall be under Region 6A while Negros Oriental and Siquijor shall be under Region 7A.

Lacson is asking if Negros will have its own Regional Development Council and what would be the rank of the government personnel manning the office.

“If we are a subregion, how does it function?” he asked.

Lacson said that the proposal is a “good development.”

“Having these departments in Negros, we don’t have to depend anymore on the regional office in Iloilo,” he said.

“My understanding is that this is temporary. But what we want is really the NIR, just like what we had. We were functioning as a region here on Negros island.”

The idea of putting up two subregions was also raised by Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo “Albee” Benitez last week.

“The fastest way to move forward is the creation of Region 6A for Negros Occidental and Bacolod City, and Region 7A for Negros Oriental and Siquijor,” said Benitez.

He added that the proposal “forces all national offices to put up their respective satellite offices in the two subregions.”

What we are discussing now, Benitez said, “is the degree of autonomy of the subregion.”

The mayor, who chairs the Regional Development Council in Western Visayas, said that this is a win-win solution.

“For Negros Occidental and Bacolod City, there is no need to cross to Iloilo to transact business with the regional office if they already have satellite offices here,” he pointed out.

All lawmakers in Negros Island and Siquijor have either authored or co-sponsored the bills for the creation of the NIR.

In 2015, the late president Benigno Aquino 3rd signed an executive order that made the two Negros provinces into one region. It was revoked by then-President Rodrigo Duterte in 2017.

Benitez said he already talked with Negros Occidental Sixth District Rep. Mercedes Alvarez regarding the DBM and NEDA proposals.