April 18, 2024
HIS EXCELLENCY
FERDINAND R. MARCOS, JR.
President of the Republic of the Philippines
Office of the President, Malacañang Palace
J.P. Laurel Street, San Miguel, 1005 Manila
SUBJECT: STATEMENT OF SUPPORT FOR NEGROS ISLAND REGION
Your Excellency:
First of all, the business community of the Province of Negros Oriental is very happy and grateful for your recent pronouncement to sign into law Senate Bill 2507 creating the Negros Island Region (NIR). We are very excited and we really appreciate your support for the NIR Bill.
Regrettably, however, right after your historic pronouncement, the business community of Negros Oriental was shocked and dismayed by the attached letter from the Diocese of Dumaguete imploring Your Excellency to VETO Senate Bill 2507.
It is for this reason that we are writing Your Excellency to give us the opportunity to manifest our full support to your pronouncement to sign into law SB 2507 and to respond and dispute the following misleading statements and unfair/unfounded insinuations by the Diocese of Dumaguete on the creation of Negros Island Region (NIR):
On the allegations of absence or lack of comprehensive information dissemination and meaningful public consultations regarding NIR:
This allegation is misleading, because several months before the late President Noynoy Aquino signed Executive Order (EO) 183 on May 29, 2015, a series of province-wide public consultations on the pros and cons of NIR was conducted by the political leaders of Negros Oriental in Bayawan City, Mabinay, Guihulngan City, and twice in Dumaguete City with former DILG Secretary Mar Roxas.
In fact, because of the positive outcome of the 5-months province-wide public consultations on NIR, the late President Noynoy Aquino signed EO 183 creating for the first time the Negros Island Region. The NIR, however, was short-lived because when President Rodrigo Duterte was elected into office, EO 183 was revoked in August 2017 without the benefit of any public consultation.
However, during the two-years successful implementation of NIR from May, 2015 to August 2017, the Diocese of Dumaguete never complained about the major accomplishments and historic milestones of NIR from 2015 to 2017. A copy of the major accomplishments and historic milestones of NIR from 2015 to 2017 are hereto attached as Annexes “A” to “C” to this letter for Your Excellency’s perusal.
Thus, the questions raised by the business community to the Diocese of Dumaguete are as follows:
1) Why did you not complain/object to the implementation of nir from 2015 to 2017 if nir was anti-poor, unjust, oppresive, and disadvantageous to the people of Negros Oriental?
2) Why complain only now and right after the pronouncement of your excellency’s support for nir?
3) Why “sabotage” or stop the signing into law of a very good bill (sb 2507) after its unanimous approval by both the senate and house of representatives?
On the allegation of absence or lack of due process:
The Diocese of Dumaguete insists that the absence of due process exacerbates the injustice surrounding the creation of NIR and that decisions of this magnitude should adhere to established legal procedures and protocols. Thus, the disregard for due process undermines the legitimacy of the entire endeavor.
Response:
In a democracy, especially under a representative government like the Philippines, the constituents are duly represented by their duly-elected government officials. In the case of Senate Bill 2507, ALL Negorenses were deemed to have been duly represented by their duly-elected Congressmen and Congresswoman who authored the creation of NIR in Congress. In fact, the main reason why the Negorenses voted and elected their three (3) Representatives and 24 Senators is for them to represent all Negorenses in the creation of NIR under SB 2507.
Furthermore, the Diocese of Dumaguete had all the chances to oppose the creation of NIR when Congress was still crafting the NIR Bill, but they kept quiet and did not lift a finger. Now, all of a sudden, out of the blue, the Diocese of Dumaguete wants to stop the signing into law of SB 2507 citing injustice and absence of public consultations and lack of due process?
2014 survey by Silliman University:
The Diocese of Dumaguete cited a 2014 Survey conducted by Silliman University showing that 43.34% opposed NIR and only 25.83% supported NIR, while the rest (30.83%) were undecided.
Response:
The 2014 Survey was done precisely to determine whether or not there was still a need to conduct province-wide all-out public consultations and prepare the budgetary requirements for a 5-month long public consultations. Accordingly, since the survey results showed a huge number (30.83%) were still undecided, the political leaders of Negros Oriental decided to conduct a 5-month long province-wide public consultations.
After the 5-month long public consultations, the response of the majority of those in attendance supported NIR. Thus, the late President Noynoy Aquino signed EO 183 on May 29, 2015 creating the NIR.
On the alleged economic disadvantage of NIR:
The Diocese of Dumaguete believes that the creation of NIR is economically disadvantageous to Negros Oriental and Siquijor due to the disparity in size and population among the constituent provinces and the alleged Dominance of Negros Occidental in Budget Allocation and Resource Distribution resulting in marginalization of the smaller provinces and exacerbating existing inequalities.
Response:
During the 2-year successful implementation of NIR from 2015-2017, the alleged injustices, inequalities, and economic disadvantages of NIR never happened. Accordingly, because Negros Occidental never exercised its dominance over Negros Oriental despite the disparity in size and population explains why the Diocese of Dumaguete never complained about NIR for two (2) years from 2015 to 2017. Truth to tell, the 2-years successful implementation of NIR (as summarized in Annexes A to C to this letter) belies and debunks all the unfounded and unfair allegations of the Diocese of Dumaguete. Annexes “A” to “C” are the best proof of the Huge Economic Benefits of NIR.
On alleged cultural and linguistic differences:
The Diocese of Dumaguete claims that the cultural and linguistic diversity within the proposed NIR presents significant challenges. Negros Island is home to diverse ethnic groups and languages, each with its unique heritage and identity. Consolidating these disparate cultures under a single administrative region risks erasing valuable cultural distinctions and undermining local autonomy.
Response:
With due respect to the position of the Diocese of Dumaguete, the business community believes that cultural and linguistic differences cannot and will never be a hindrance to economic prosperity, peace and harmony of any region. A clear example of linguistic differences are the people of Region 8 (Warays and Cebuanos of Leyte and Samar) have lived peacefully for the past 50 years.
Another example of cultural differences are the Muslim community in Negros Oriental who have lived peacefully and preserved their unique heritage and identity for the past 100 years.
However, just to address the linguistic difference, the business community is proposing that if the Regional Director is Cebuano speaking, the Assistant Regional Director should be Ilonggo speaking and vice-versa.
On the allegation that nir is politically-driven:
The Diocese of Dumaguete claims that the push for NIR appears to be driven more by the interests of powerful politicians than the genuine needs and demands of the people. They say that the top-down approach to governance disregards grassroots perspectives and reinforces entrenched power dynamics. True democratic governance should prioritize the voices and aspirations of the populace over political expediency.
Response:
The movement for 1-Negros Island is not only initiated by the political sector but also by the business sector and other sectors including the academe. In fact, the economic study for NIR conducted by Dr. Wilma Tejero of Silliman University endorsed the creation of NIR. Please see attached Economic Study in Annex “D”.
On the alleged financial burden of NIR:
The Diocese of Dumaguete insists that the creation of NIR entails significant financial costs, with estimates reaching billions. They say that allocating vast sums to a potentially unnecessary administrative restructuring is unjustifiable and that these funds could be better utilized to address urgent social issues and improve public services.
Response:
During the 2-years implementation of NIR in 2015-2017, the NIR was able to accomplish its objectives and mandate without spending billions of pesos. Simply put, NIR can be implemented without Huge Budget.
On the alleged problem of inconvenient transport:
The Diocese of Dumaguete claims that the geographic realities of Negros Island pose challenges to transportation and connectivity such that travel from Siquijor and Negros Oriental to Negros Occidental is perceived to be inconvenient compared to access to neighboring regions like Cebu. This logistical hurdle further undermines the practicality and feasibility of creating NIR.
Response:
Currently, even without NIR, there are already a few regional offices based in Bacolod City like BIR, SSS, SRA, SEC, etc.
Secondly, since there will be Sixteen (16) new regional offices that will be opened in Dumaguete City under NIR, there will be no need for Negorenses to travel to Cebu and catch the last trip of the barge to and from Cebu. For the people of Siquijor, instead of traveling for 4-6 hours from Siquijor to Cebu City proper, the boat travel from Siquijor to Dumaguete City is only 1 to 2 hours.
On the allegation that nir requires a plebiscite:
The Diocese of Dumaguete relied on the legal opinion of Atty. Marcelino C. Maxino, former Foundation University President, Dumaguete City Councilor, as follows: “theformation of the Negros Island Region, pursuant to Section 10 of the 1991 Local Government Code, the NIR bill requires a plebiscite before it can become a law. This is because under said Section 10, no division or alteration of boundaries of local government units shall take effect unless approved by a majority of the votes cast in a plebiscite in the political units directly affected. The creation of a new political region necessarily involves division and alteration of boundaries.”
Response:
Section 10 is not applicable to the Creation of NIR, because Senate Bill 2507 does not alter or modifies boundaries of the three (3) provinces. Simply put, the metes and bounds of the three (3) provinces remain as it is and not a single inch is altered or modified if SB 2507 becomes a law.
However, if the Diocese insists that a plebiscite is mandatory, they can go to the Supreme Court and secure an INJUNCTION to stop implementation of NIR Law.
On the allegation that nir is anti-poor:
The Diocese of Dumaguete claims that because of the “asymmetry in representation and resource allocation, NIR could perpetuate systemic injustices thereby further marginalizing vulnerable communities.”
Response:
The fear of the Diocese of Dumaguete that NIR will negatively impact the poor people of Negros Oriental is unfounded and not supported by facts and figures. On the contrary, prior to the creation of NIR in May 2015, the 2014 poverty rate of Negros Oriental was at 50%. After the 2-years’ successful implementation of NIR from 2015 to 2017, the poverty rate decreased to 32.7% in 2018.
Finally, up to now, the Diocese of Dumaguete has not responded to the single most important question of the business sector below:
What is the disadvantage of opening 16 new regional offices in Dumaguete City under NIR compared to ZERO regional office under Region 7?
In view of all the foregoing counter-arguments and with due respect to the anti-NIR stand of the Church notwithstanding the doctrine of separation of church and State, Your Excellency, we respectfully implore you to deny and ignore in toto the attached VETO letter Request of the Diocese of Dumaguete dated March 25,2024 for lack of merit.
Thank you for your service to our country and rest assured that the business community of Negros Oriental supports all your programs, projects, and aspirations for a BAGONG PILIPINAS.
MABUHAY!
EDWARD C. DU, CPA
President
