Negros Oriental and Negros Occidental are both rich in cultural and natural heritage events and sites, respectively, which offer great tourism potentials.
These provide significant revenues needed by the local government units for providing basic social services and livelihood opportunities to their constituencies.
The cultural differences ushered by the geographical division and isolation of the two Provinces may be a cause of tension, but it is not enough reason to argue that nothing can be done to reverse the situation or to view the diversity for something positive.
Instead of looking at cultural diversity as a barrier for merger in development planning to justify the continuing separation of two peoples, this has to be viewed as a cultural resource that can be transformed into tourism opportunities.
Both Provinces offer tourists a menu of experiences in various settings as they move from the north to the south of Negros Island. What is needed, however, is for the two Provinces to have comprehensive tourism development, management and marketing plans that promote total tourism experience in the island.
This means having a plan that is solely focused on Negros Island unlike today that each Province has to be guided by two regional development agenda and plans.
Does this demand for the creation of one island region more than just having the two Provinces pass resolutions that allow them to enter into a Memorandum of Agreement to plan, develop and implement a joint tourism program?
Let me share my ideas which may help concerned groups and individuals in making decisions, against or in favor of the proposed merger.
Rather than to compete for attracting tourists, the two Provinces can agree to synchronically design major festivals like the Masskara and Buglasan in October and other touristic events throughout the year.
The entry point may be Bacolod City because of its international airport if the tourists come from the national capital region, while the exit point may be Dumaguete City.
Or it may be Dumaguete first if the tourists enter from Cebu or Bohol.
The whole idea is to offer tourists the opportunity to savor the various spectacles and experiences when they travel from one end to the other end of or around the island.
The Occidental side of the island offers more cultural and historical tourism experiences, while the Oriental side, with its mountains and caves, as well as fringing reefs and beautiful coastlines, offer diverse natural experiences to more adventurous tourists.
On the other hand, natural calamities are not only detrimental to people and properties, these are likewise causing major damages to tourism attractions, either natural or built environments.
The synchronized tourism promotion and attractions will connect the two Provinces in managing disasters and responding to calamitous events in massive scale because both places will surely be drastically affected.
The cultural and natural connectivity strengthened by the creation of the one island region will promote such common concerns for the welfare of affected neighbors.
For example, the earthquake that hit the northern part of Negros Oriental in 2012 demonstrated that assistance from Negros Occidental can be relied upon because of its proximity and accessibility.
Electricity was also temporarily-sourced from Negros Occidental because travel from Dumaguete City by land or Cebu City by sea was hampered by damaged roads, bridges, and sea ports.
Thus, aside from a need for a comprehensive tourism plan, it is also imperative to have the same for disaster risk-reduction management designed for the two Provinces if they will be under one region.
The cities of Bayawan and Kabankalan, for example, spearheaded an agreement with nearby municipalities in south Negros to jointly address natural calamities and disasters.
I believe this is not only due to their being geographically- connected but because they have equally recognized their cultural roots. Up-scaling this arrangement island-wide may be possible.
But with or without “one-island region”, there is really a need to have joint development and management plans for the two Provinces.
Interconnectivity, not isolationism, should be the development paradigm of the two provincial governments being within the same island.
This finds justification in the estimate of Biology Prof. Roy Olsen de Leon of Silliman University about the diminishing span of forest that cuts across the political boundaries of the two Provinces, where many endemic and now-threatened species struggle to survive.
He added that at least four major transboundary river basins in the island also provide the water for domestic purposes and habitat for aquatic organisms. They are also important sources of water irrigation.
As example of current joint initiatives of the two Provinces is the management of the Mt. Kanla-on Natural Park, and the Ilog-Hilabangan River Basin.
The forest and river basin, as natural resources that cut across boundaries and offer provisioning and cultural ecosystem services, require a united people with unified effort to protect and manage what remain of these resources as we are further confronted with the associated drastic impacts of climate change.
Actually, there have been joint projects under the Negros Island Development Plan. But these projects need to be evaluated if they achieved their objectives pursuant to the vision of the one Negros Island Region movement.
This is one good area to study as to how perceived cultural differences may have become barriers to the success of designing and implementing joint development plans.
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Author’s email: [email protected]
