Transport, trade & investment, tourism, health, environment, and security: these six sectors stand to benefit the most from the proposed Negros Island Region, said Edward Du, president of the Negros Oriental Chamber of Commerce & Industry.
“We are the only island in the Philippines left that is [situated] in two Regions,” he said. “Removing the regional border eases logistical and jurisdictional issues in these different sectors—and more,” he added.
The Bill establishing the Negros Island Region, however, has been met with some resistance from a number of Negros Oriental residents, chief of whom is the Diocese of Dumaguete, which has asked President Marcos Jr. to veto Senate Bill 2507 creating the NIR.
The Church cited the lack of consultation and the further marginalization of vulnerable communities as the main reasons for their opposition to the Bill.
The Chamber in the Province has since responded to the Church’s bid for veto in an open letter to the President, addressing the Church’s concerns point by point.
Beyond these points, however, Du emphasized in an interview that the creation of NIR brings “tangible benefits” that will help both business owners and regular citizens “on the ground”.
RDs,budget allocation
NOCCI has repeatedly emphasized the benefits of having regional centers in the Province. He said that regional centers will be managed by regional directors from Negros Island who may be able to lobby for bigger annual budgets from the central government.
He noted that in the current setup, Negros Oriental has no regional directors in the Central Visayas office because there are no regional offices located in the Province.
The creation of NIR seeks to change that set-up to a 16–14 split of regional offices between Oriental and Occidental.
“This means our regional directors can push for more projects and public works that benefit Negros Oriental and all its sectors,” he added.
Connecting roads
Critics of the NIR Bill claim that traveling to Negros Occidental [by land] is more inconvenient than going to Cebu [which includes a 45-minute RORO].
Du, however, said these transport challenges are, in fact, caused by the regional divide. He said there are few inter-provincial roads between the two provinces because having different regional offices presents jurisdictional challenges in connecting roads along the border.
Unifying Negros Island would facilitate the construction of more inter-provincial roads and other more convenient modes of transport, thereby solving the current problem of in-land travel within the island of Negros.
Furthermore, Du said that the 24/7 operations of the Ceres bus liner are more convenient for Negros Oriental residents compared to crossing the sea and catching the last RORO barge trip at 11 p.m. to and from Cebu.
The improvement of roads and other methods of public transportation within Negros Island paves the way for the development of other sectors, including the agriculture, transport, and tourism industries.
Promoting sugar competitiveness
As the “Sugar Bowl” of the country, Negros Island has had its sugar industry divided into two because of the regional divide. Chief among the problems this presents is the lack of efficient transport modes to deliver sugar products around the different plantations and sugar mills.
According to Du, the creation of NIR will make it possible to build farm-to-market roads and, in particular, railways to boost the island’s sugar industry.
In fact, NOCCI’s position paper presents new farm-to-market road projects along the key agricultural areas of Salvador Benedicto, San Carlos, Canlaon, and Vallehermoso to aid in this effort.
Additionally, being in one region will allow the island to efficiently implement a more seamless and integrated plan to develop the said industry.
Selling the island experience
Other islands in the country, like Cebu and Bohol, have promoted island tourism—to much success, according to Du.
With NIR, that also becomes possible for Negros Oriental and Occidental. NOCCI has also suggested a One Island Tourism Destination Circuit if NIR comes to fruition.
Not only would this attract more investors and tourists, but would aid businesses that offer goods or services related to tourism.
“Under the present set-up, rent-a-car companies and transport tour providers in Negros Oriental and Siquijor need to get two LTFRB franchises: one each for Region VI and VII,” Du said. “Otherwise, they will be penalized by LTO and LTFRB.”
Businesses like these will be able to cut costs and reduce bureaucratic red tape through the creation of NIR, resulting in improved operations overall.
Building a national hospital
National hospitals grant accessible and quality healthcare to Filipino citizens. However, under the present setup, Negros Oriental and Siquijor have no national hospitals.
For Region VII, the national hospital is located in Cebu City in the form of the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center, which has medical facilities that are much more advanced than both the public and private hospitals in the province.
This means that, for Negros Oriental residents with medical emergencies, they would have to travel to Cebu City in order to avail of free and high-quality healthcare.
When these medical emergencies happen late at night when the ports are closed, it could mean life or death for the regular citizen.
With the creation of NIR, a national hospital can be established within the island. This would be accessible 24/7 via the Ceres buses and local ambulances within the island of Negros, Du explained.
Consistent environmental protection
Living in the same island, Negros Oriental and Occidental share the same bodies of water and other natural resources.
This means that any pollution or environmental disaster that occurs in one province affects the other—even if neither has jurisdiction to prevent the other from engaging in environmentally damaging activities.
NIR would allow “holistic environmental management” where each province can hold the other accountable for their actions.
Solving the insurgency
Du claimed that Negros Island’s persistent insurgency problem in the form of the New People’s Army can be solved through NIR.
“Under NIR, the police and military report to only one respective commander,” he stated in a position paper. “The regional commander can strategically move or concentrate units to whichever part of the island, whether in Negros Oriental and Occidental, where the need arises…”
NIR’s two-year stint
While these benefits are yet to come to fruition until NIR is reestablished, Du emphasized the fact that NIR has already been implemented from 2015–2017.
“After those two years, the poverty rate decreased from 50 percent to 32.7 percent,” he said. “That is a clear indication of how NIR can benefit each and every citizen of Negros Oriental.”
Projects such as the Bacong seaport and the Tamlang Valley Agricultural Development Program were also proposed and approved by the NIR Regional Development Council.
“These two examples show [the] very efficient and responsive development under NIR,” he added.(NSSD/SU Masscom)
