For the longest time, not a few people in both sides of Negros Island have been entertaining biases against those living on the other side of the island.
The Oriental Negrenses would refer to the Occidental Negrenses as proud, arrogant, and showy.
On the other hand, the common stereotype the Occidental Negrenses have of the Orientals are that we are hillbillys.
One reason for the proliferation of these biases is the language barrier. Most people in the Occidental side speak Ilonggo, while those in the Oriental side speak Cebuano. Sometimes, these two dialects are gibberish to the untrained ear.
But the times are a-changin’, as Bob Dylan put it. Travel has become so easy between Bacolod and Dumaguete, and more and more people in the island speak or understand the other dialect. Slowly, these biases are being corrected as friendships are made by people from the two sides of the island.
Now, we have the Negros Island Region. This is a product of a germ of an idea entertained by then Negros Oriental Gov. Emilio Macias II and Gov. Bitay Lacson of Negros Occidental, which was pursued by Negros Occidental Gov. Rafael Coscolluela and Negros Oriental Gov. George Arnaiz a good 20 years ago. They tried to sell the idea but it didn’t take off due to several obstacles.
The idea started to gain momentum again some two years ago, as Negros Oriental officials led by Vice Gov. Mark Macias and some Board Members visited Negros Occidental, and met their counterparts. You can say the Negros Island Region is a result of the efforts of many visionaries.
But one man stands out from the crowd. Negros Occidental Gov. Alfredo Maranon Jr., a soft-spoken and refined gentleman, may be used to campaigning for votes in Negros Occidental, but little did he realize that he also needed to extend his campaign to Negros Oriental to get their support for the Negros Island Region.
He hosted several NIR consultations in Negros Occidental, he hosted the visits of Negros Oriental officials, he came to Dumaguete several times to meet with our provincial leadership, and he also attended consultations on the NIR in Negros Oriental.
At one point, he even risked a misunderstanding with Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo, who had asked Maranon to apologize for stating a fact.
But Maranon did not falter. He pursued the vision, dodging criticisms from paid hacks who kept maligning him over the airwaves.
Through his influence, the Negros Occidental side has agreed to a 60-40 sharing scheme with Negros Oriental, which is actually an unwarranted advantage to the Oriental side. He also let Negros Oriental get all the government regional offices it wanted during Friday’s meeting of the Technical Working Group in Manila.
But ever the low-profile man that he is, he refuses to take credit as the “Father of the Negros Island Region.” Such rare display of humility is uncharacteristic of today’s politicians, who are usually wont to place their name on government projects and grab credit for anything.
Governor Maranon pretty much reminds us of a quote from clergyman James Freeman Clarke: “A politician thinks of the next election. A statesman of the next generation.”
