The first meeting of the Negros Island Region-Technical Working Group was held on 19 June at the Department of Interior & Local Government central office in Quezon City.
The TWG is composed of representatives from Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental, the national government, and the academe.
The inclusion of the academe in the TWG provides the technical and non-political perspective in designing the Implementing Rules and Regulations inside or outside the meeting venue.
Silliman University in Dumaguete City, and the University of St. La Salle in Bacolod City represent the academe in the TWG.
The TWG meeting presided by Interior & Local Government Sec. Mar Roxas was successful, and had resolved two major points on budget allocation and location of regional offices during the three to five-year transition period.
Some members of the TWG from each Province had actually met earlier to refine the draft of the IRR. Consensus-building described the manner by which the TWG agreed on the foregoing major points of the IRR during that meeting.
How Negros Occidental Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr. and his team accommodated to some concerns raised by the Negros Oriental TWG was so impressive.
His desire for the NIR to function soonest as an administrative region was evident.
Certainly, Governor Marañon did not want another 20 years to pass and miss the perceived opportunities from the merger of the two Provinces.
Also, the merger must be critical to the NegrosFirst development agenda of his administration, among other reasons, both manifest and latent. Still, he refused to be called the Father of Negros Island Region.
The 60-40 allocation of the regional development budget for Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental, respectively, was considered in the IRR without the hassle of dividing the house.
In fact, this was a reiteration of the promise of Governor Marañon made during his meeting with Gov. Roel Degamo at the Capitol of Negros Oriental.
And that promise must have silently driven Governor Degamo to reconsider his initial uncertain position about the 1994 One Island Region proposal revived by Governor Marañon.
Although the studies conducted by Silliman University researchers do not recommend any certain position, Governor Degamo has admitted that the pros and cons of the merger these studies had brought out to the open had helped him in coming up with a final position.
However, he is cautious of the anticipated negative consequences of the merger which he persistently made sure would be prevented to happen with the inclusion of safety nets in the IRR.
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In a related development, the Negros Oriental TWG was given the first option to select which cluster of the transitional regional offices it wanted to be in Dumaguete City.
In the final distribution of the regional offices, which hopefully would start to function in October this year, the 16-14 sharing in favor of Negros Oriental again shows how its Negros Occidental counterpart wants to satisfy what the former needs most out of the merger. These needs focus more on human and socio-economic development.
The budget allocation and distribution of regional offices appear favorable to Negros Oriental, and the realization of this institutional arrangement illustrates what Governor Degamo had thought of as ways to ensure the extent of benefits that the merger will bring to his constituencies.
This also demonstrates the notion of leveling the field for two entities that are historically and economically seen as “unequal” where the other is perceived as indispensable for achieving what the other wants to achieve in a determined time.
But many are still skeptical about the results of the merger until the NIR actually functions in accordance to its mandate as prescribed by Executive Order 183.
As often is the case in this country, there is a gap between what are stipulated on paper, and what are actually implemented — demanding vigilance from the various publics.
Nonetheless, there are some important lessons from the creation of the NIR at this point in time, which cannot be taken for granted.
The process shows that no agreement can be reached unless the negotiating parties in situations like this have recognized their relative values, expressed serious intentions, demonstrated respect as co-equals, aspired for mutual development, disregarded political differences, and considered the benefits of the majority to be affected by whatever decisions are being made.
Meanwhile, block voting in the Regional Development Council, as proposed by the Negros Oriental TWG — which has yet to be finalized due to some legal complications — is another safety net to reckon with.
This is believed to prevent being out-voted by the greater number of RDC members coming from Negros Occidental.
For instance, the votes of the 13 city mayors of Negros Occidental will be counted as one, and same with the votes of the six city mayors of Negros Oriental.
Each group has to decide on their respective votes, thus, the voting power becomes equal.
Finally, assuming that the three foregoing safety nets or mechanisms for leveling the field are included in the IRR and practiced as conceptualized, these may prevent the stereotyped “dominance” of Negros Occidental leaders, and the anticipated unequal distribution of development benefits of the One Island Region, as feared by Negros Oriental people.
Hopefully, this development will also erase any skepticism at the moment.
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Author’s email: ikeoracion@lycos.com
