REGIONAL directors of the government agencies in Negros Island Region (NIR) will submit their transition reports to the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) central office during a meeting Tuesday at the Nature’s Village Resort in Talisay City, Negros Occidental.
The meeting will be headed by DILG Undersecretary for Local Government Austere Panadero.
President Rodrigo Duterte tasked DILG to supervise the transition process during the 60-day winding up of operations that will end in October after he signed Executive Order (EO) 38 abolishing NIR last August 7.
The dissolution of NIR will revert Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental, along with the regional offices, to Western Visayas and Central Visayas, respectively.
Last week, Anthony Nuyda, concurrent head of DILG in NIR and Western Visayas, led the transition meeting with the regional directors, who were asked to submit their reports and recommendations as some of them have aired concerns confronting their offices during the reversion period.
Some regional directors said their agencies have programs and projects, which have corresponding budgets that are set to be implemented until the end of the year yet.
Others are also pushing to retain their NIR regional offices as satellite offices.
Nuyda noted that most of the issues of the regional directors involved the displacement of contractual workers in their respective agencies.
He said, however, that programs and projects for Negros Island will continue as delivery of basic services won’t be disrupted due to the abolition of the region.
Expected to be tackled in today’s meeting are the issues confronting the reversion, timeline, and additional instructions, Nuyda said.
He added that an “agreement” concerning the issues may also be reached.
Nuyda said that Panadero was also briefed on the concerns as they submitted the minutes of the transition meeting to him last week.
During the NIR’s two-year run, regional directors said their offices have notable accomplishments even with limited funding and resources.
Under NIR, 14 regional offices were housed in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental while 16 others in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental.
Meanwhile, Undersecretary for Regional Operations Adoracion Navarro of the National Economic Development Authority (Neda) will meet today with the Negros Oriental officials led by Governor Roel Degamo and private sector representatives in Dumaguete City.
Ma. Lina Sanogal ,Negros Occidental Provincial Planning and Development officer, said the meeting is still part of the NIR reversion process.
She added that Navarro will also meet with the Negros Occidental officials tomorrow at Nature’s Village Resort in Talisay City.
Sanogal said the meeting will tackle the plans and programs of the two provinces as the NIR special bodies will be transferred to the previous regions.
Special bodies created under the Negros Island, including the Regional Development Council, Regional Peace and Order Council, and Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, will be merged with the previous regions following the NIR abolition.