THE Department of Interior and Local Government scheduled a meeting Tuesday for the Technical Working Group (TWG) for Negros Island Region's (NIR) preparatory meeting on June 19.
Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. said the province will be represented by former governor Rafael Coscolluela, now capitol consultant on investment promotions, trade and export development, and inter-agency coordination, and Assistant Provincial Legal Office Mary Ann Lamis.
Marañon added that he will attend the first TWG meeting on June 19, which was postponed from June 15.
Negros Occidental representatives to the TWG also include Coscolluela and Lamis.
Others are Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Frank Carbon, Kabankalan City Mayor Isidro Zayco, Rep. Alfredo Benitez, Provincial Planning and Development Officer Ma. Lina Sanogal, Provincial Budget Officer Percival Joy Salado, Provincial Environment Management Officer Wilfred Ramon Peñalosa, Provincial Public Information Officer Karen Dinsay, Executive Assistant to the Governor Eric Loretizo, and University of St. La Salle Research Center Director Romeo Teruel.
The Negros Oriental provincial government also formed its own group, Marañon said.
All representatives from the two provinces will meet Friday at the DILG central office in Quezon City.
Marañon said the TWG will finalize the new region’s implementing rules and regulations and discuss how the two provinces will divide the responsibilities over government regional offices.
The chairmanships of the Negros Island Regional Development Council, Negros Island Peace and Order Council and the Negros Island Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council will also be tackled, he added.
According to Executive Order 183 that created the NIR, the TWG will also include other representatives from the Office of the President, Department of Budget and Management, and the National Economic and Development Authority.
The EO stated that the group will create a “roadmap to put in place the arrangements for the NIR by 2015 to 2016,” and arrange the new region’s organizational development, staffing and budget for the regional offices.