It is finished. Negros Island, consisting of two provinces, has been united under one region.
President Aquino has approved the creation of the Negros Island Region through Executive Order no. 183, which he signed last May 29, and which was made public last Friday.
This means that Negros Oriental will no longer be part of Central Visayas; Negros Occidental will also pull out of Western Visayas.
This new region will now be composed of only two provinces.
Negros Island used to be just one province. The people who administered this province back then must have gotten tired of having to go all the way around the island just to come to Dumaguete, that they divided the island into two provinces in 1890.
Things pretty much remained the way they were until the early 90s, when the road connecting Mabinay and Kabankalan was built. Since then, social and business exchanges between Bacolod and Dumaguete became easier and faster. That was when the possibility of a one-island region was then raised by the two Governors of that time.
Incidentally, there is nothing in this Executive Order that will bar people from Negros Oriental from going to Cebu City for business or pleasure, as those opposed to the NIR had been spreading.
One advantage of not having to cross over to Cebu to go to regional offices is that you can do it even during a storm. You will not anymore be stranded for days waiting for the storm signal to disappear before crossing the Tanon Strait.
Negros Occidental Gov. Alfredo Maranon Jr. and Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo had earlier agreed on a 60-40 sharing of resources in favor of Negros Occidental.
This is more than generous, as Negros Oriental would actually be getting more than it is entitled to. If we base the formula on population, land area, the number of Congressional Districts, and number of towns and cities, Negros Oriental would have accounted for less than 40 percent.
With the creation of the Negros Island Region, we can now look forward to better planning and management of our water resources, forests, road network, disaster response, and peace and order.
Misunderstanding between the two peoples will not be much of a problem because English will continue to be the official language of business in the regional offices.
Now, the task of forming the mechanics for the Negros Island Region will be handled by a Technical Working Group, to be coordinated by the Office of the President.
We look forward to a better island under one region. So help us God.
