SHOULD the proposed shift to the federal form of government will come to fruition, the two provinces in Negros Island Region are seen to unite again.

This is the clamor of the Negrenses, they say, after the two-year-old NIR was abolished last year by President Rodrigo Duterte due to budget constraint.

In the proposal of the Consultative Committee (ConCom), which was tasked by Duterte to review the 1987 Constitution, Negros Federal Region was among the 18 states included in the draft.

The National Capital Region is eyed to be the federal capital under the proposed federal system of government.

The proposed 18 federated regions will have a regional governor, two regional senators and two congressmen each.

The committee has yet to submit the proposal to the president, who has still the final say on the draft before it will be forwarded to the Congress.

Some members of ConCom held a Regional Consultation on Federalism in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental on Monday, June 18.

This is to intensify the information campaign of the national government on the proposed federalism.

Members of ConCom insisted that federalism will promote good governance and create a ripple of growth in the country’s economy.

Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Assistant Secretary Jonathan Malaya said that NIR, when it was abolished, was under the unitary system of government, and not in the proposed federalism.

He said: “The NIR was under the unitary system, meaning the regional offices of the unitary government are here, which is the arm of the national government. If we shift to federal, it will not be the arm of the national government anymore but the regional government. Wala na report sa Manila.”

“Under federalism, the powers of other regions, in terms of basic services, will be transferred to the federal region,” he added.