FORMER senator Joseph Victor Ejercito said he will push more the implementation of the Universal Health Care Law (UHCL) that he sponsored.

Ejercito, who was in Bacolod City to meet with Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson, said the full implementation of the law is crucial in this time of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.

The former senator, who was one of the principal authors of the Sugarcane Industry Development Act, is also eyeing the creation of the National Housing Department.

Ejercito is also for the revival of the defunct Negros Island Region (NIR) that was created through an executive order penned by then President Benigno Aquino III but was later dissolved by President Rodrigo Duterte a year after he was elected into office.

On November 17, Senate Bill 2453, reviving NIR was filed by Negrense Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, aimed to bring together Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental, establishing them as a single administrative region.

Other than Zubiri, nine Negrense lawmakers led by Third District Representative Francisco Benitez also filed a bill in Congress that seeks to create NIR.

Meanwhile, Lacson expressed support to Ejercito, who has roots from Bacolod City, as he seeks a senate comeback in the 2022 elections.

Although adopted by four presidential candidates, Ejercito stressed that he, along with Senators Juan Miguel Zubiri, Joel Villanueva and Sherwin Gatchalian, will go together come the campaign period.