The dream for a One-Negros Island Region, to include the Province of Siquijor, is a step closer to reality with the passage last Wednesday of Senate Bill 2507 on second reading.
Under the Bill, the proposed NIR will include the provinces of Negros Occidental including Bacolod City, Negros Oriental, and Siquijor.
The bill calls for the creation of a technical working group to formulate a roadmap for the institutional arrangements of the NIR, arrange the organizational development requirements for development planning and investment programming, and map out the provision of public services in the proposed region.
The TWG will be composed of representatives from the National Economic Development Authority, the Department of the Interior & Local Government, the Department of Budget & Management, the Office of the Governor of the three provinces, and the elected members of the House of Representatives of the provinces.
With the DILG serving as its secretariat, the Bill also seeks to improve the delivery of basic government services in Negros Island through the establishment of regional government offices and promote decentralization to strengthen local autonomy.
The House of Representatives had passed on third and final reading House Bill 7355 establishing the NIR last March.
The NIR was first created by President Benigno Aquino in 2016 but his successor, Rodrigo Duterte dissolved the NIR through Executive Order 38. (MP)
