Urban planners to include former Dumaguete Mayor Felipe Antonio Remollo and Dr. Efren Padilla on Monday unfolded what they called a “better option” to the much-touted One Negros Island Region during a press briefing with the local media in this capital city of Negros Oriental.
In a briefing Monday night, Remollo, a lawyer who hails from Negros Oriental, proposed to connect the islands of Region 6 and Region 7 via infrastructures like bridges and a massive “interstate” highway on Negros Island, and provide convenient transport and travel access to and from these islands.
Remollo served in the Aquino administration as president and chief executive officer of the Clark Development Corporation for a year, but left to join a group of master planners in looking at creating economic zones to bring more jobs for Filipinos in the countryside.
He had worked with Dr. Padilla, an internationally renowned and United States-based urban and regional planner even when Remollo was still mayor of Dumaguete.
Remollo disclosed that while they are not opposed to the proposed one Negros Island region, they are looking at a more doable, perhaps less costly and more beneficial plan to boost economic activity on the island.
The idea is not bad per se, but instead of adding one more region and spending more money (in creating it), we might as well draw the full potential and benefit from Cebu City, which is the most progressive city outside of Manila, and Iloilo City, where there is currently a huge ongoing development there, Remollo said.
He explained that building bridges to connect the islands is possible, noting that the nearest point from Sibulan, Negros Oriental to Liloan, Cebu is just about four kilometers, from Cebu to Bohol about six kilometers, from Bacolod, Negros Occidental to Guimaras about ten kilometers and from Guimaras to Iloilo about less than two kilometers.
The longest inter-island connection via a bridge in the Central and Western Visayas regions would be that from Siquijor to Dumaguete at 18 kilometers. Still, this is physically possible because the longest bridge in the world spans around 26 kilometers, Remollo noted.
The “tourism corridor” that these urban planners are recommending would also include a wide “trans-central” highway from Basay, Negros Oriental (the farthest town on the southern tip of the island) and cutting through the middle of Negros Island all the way to its northern tip in Cadiz, Negros Occidental, he added.
Local government units would benefit from this if they would cooperate by also constructing their own feeder roads that would link them to the “trans-central” highway, according to Remollo.
When asked about funding, Remollo pointed out that the Philippines has plenty of money, with about P350 billion in savings as declared by President Benigno Simeon Aquino III in 2013.
The former Dumaguete mayor said if a comprehensive master plan of such proposal is submitted to the national government for funding, perhaps the President or national government agencies can be convinced to support the project.
First and foremost, though, is to present the proposal to the local leaders of the twin provinces of Negros as well as other sectors and stakeholders.
According to him, based on his knowledge on the ongoing consultations of the proposed One Negros Island Region, he has not heard of any clamor from the general public but instead, it is the political leaders that are pushing for this.
Their idea of a strategic economic zone inter-connecting the islands would bolster Negros Island and become a tourism hub, being in the center of the two Visayas regions, aside from generating jobs and benefiting other sectors like agriculture, Remollo explained.
All this, however, will entail a long and tedious process, such as presenting this proposal to the governors and congressmen of Negros, designing a master plan and holding consultations.
Remollo said he and his group are willing to sit down with the officials and stakeholders to discuss the proposal and in the crafting of a master plan.
He could not, however, give a cost estimate for the project as everything would depend on the master plan. (PNA)
