THE executive order (EO) seeking to rescind the Negros Island Region (NIR) is awaiting the signature of President Rodrigo Duterte, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said Tuesday.
“It (NIR) will be repealed. [The EO abolishing the region is now] pending at the Office of the President,” Diokno told reporters at the sidelines of the oath-taking of the officials of the League of the Municipalities of the Philippines held at the Palace’s Rizal Hall.
Diokno said that spending P19 billion for the NIR would be “useless” since the administration is proposing to have a federal type of government.
While Diokno said that the proposed budget for the establishment of the NIR was not included in the proposed 2017 budget, he said the two provinces would still get allocations from the government.
“When we came in, I was confronted with a P19-billion request by various agencies for that new region. I said that’s not affordable because we have other priorities… It’s an expensive exercise,” Diokno said.
“The services will be provided by existing regions before the creation [of the NIR]. We go back to the status quo now,” he added.
NIR was created through Executive Order 183 signed by former President Benigno Aquino III on May 29, 2015. The establishment of NIR separated Negros Occidental from Western Visayas (Region 6) and Negros Oriental from Central Visayas (Region 7).
The creation of one-island region is needed to further accelerate the social and economic development in the two adjacent provinces, according to the EO.
‘Hope for the best’
Former Negros Occidental governor Rafael Coscolluela, who actively campaigned for the creation of NIR when he was still governor, said in a text message: “Like the Governor (Alfredo Marañon Jr.) has already said, let’s wait for official word and hope for the best.”
Coscolluela added that “it is sad, however, to note the absence of meaningful dialogue on a matter of such great importance to us.”
“If indeed the death sentence is passed, we will go in mourning. But not for long because even in the worst of times, Negrenses have always known how to survive and prevail,” he said.
Provincial Planning and Development Coordinator Ma. Lina Sanogal, a member of the NIR Technical Working Group, expressed regret over the move to repeal the executive order that created the NIR.
“This, despite the public assurance of President (Rodrigo) Duterte that he will not revoke NIR and that if it is the will of the people of Negros, he will support it,” Sanogal said.
The President comes from a local government unit himself, “he knows our plight, our aspirations as LGUs,” she added.
Vice Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said, “if true, let’s wait for it to happen.”
He said it’s important to keep the two Negros provinces together.
“The purpose of putting us together is to synchronize the planning of this island. So if we can’t continue to be NIR, at least we will remain together in whatever state in the implementation of federal form of government,” he added.
Yves Akol, secretary-general of Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas Ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) in NIR, said that he will respect the decision of Duterte, adding that “federalism is better for us.”
Lawmakers prepare NIR bill
As this developed, the 10 congressmen from Negros Island are preparing the bill establishing NIR as a region, Bacolod City Representative Greg Gasataya said Tuesday, October 11.
“We have been drafting the NIR bill since three weeks ago,” he said.
Gasataya also said they are in consensus against the revocation of the EO that created the NIR.
Moreover, the congressmen will also send a letter to Duterte and Diokno, asking for reconsideration to include NIR in the proposed 2017 national budget.
He said that he was among the five congressmen who signed the letter, adding that they will submit it to the Office of the President and the DBM once all the 10 congressmen have signed it.
There are seven congressmen in Negros Occidental and three from Negros Oriental.
For his part, Coscolluela said there is "only a small window open for the NIR bill. The timeline for the Congress to act on it is by the middle of next year."
“If we cannot have it passed, we will be overtaken by events,” he added.
“We don’t know how long will the federalism movement will take, we don't know what configuration it will adopt. If we can presume that we cannot pass a federalism bill before 2019, what will happen to NIR? We cannot be held in suspension forever,” Coscolluela said.
Over the weekend, Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Dino hinted that NIR may be dissolved since the administration is pushing to shift to federal form of government.
He also said that the National Government lacks fund to establish the new region. (With reports from Sunnex)