IN JULY 1876, the first recommendation for the historic political division of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental was made. Moved by humanitarian reasons, various groups led by 13 parish priests from different towns in Negros addressed a petition to the Spanish Governor General requesting for the division.
Among other things, they argued that the distance from Bacolod to Dumaguete was very difficult especially for the aged and infirm who had to pass mountainous areas without rest houses along the way. They had to cling to shrubs or trees so as not to fall down the precipices and when the rivers overflowed with their strong currents and forced travelers to wait for days until the waters subsided. These long exhausting trips often led to hunger or illness for many poor travelers.
The governor general had therefore requested an official study of the matter which resulted to an official reiteration of the petition of the parish priests and other petitioners as follows:
1) Authorities in Bacolod could hardly attend to the needs of the towns on the Oriental side because of the distances and mountain ranges separating the Occidental and Oriental sides.
2) Crimes committed in the Oriental side would be better attended by authorities if culprits or suspects were more quickly brought to trial rather than to wait for months to be resolved in Bacolod.
3) The Island of Negros required more supervision because of the bigger population increase in the last 15 years which needed even greater attention in the coming years.
4) Officials in the Occidental side could better attend to legal requirements or other problems. The officials requesting the division recommended that Dumaguete should be the capital of the Oriental side and the separate Island of Siquijor would be added to the Oriental side. Despite the reasons given, financial and other factors prevented the earlier implementation of the petition.
It was only after some 13 years later that Gov. Gen. Valeriano Weyler implemented the recommendation following the royal decree from Spain separating the Oriental side from the Occidental side on January 1, 1890 as a separate province. Nevertheless, the various public regulations and programs of the new Negros Oriental Province were managed in close coordination with the older province of Negros Occidental. Even during the remaining years of the Spanish rule, and with the following historic uprising of the Negrenses on their November 5, 1898 revolution against the Spanish command, and following also the American Colonial Occupation arrival from 1899, and to the Japanese Occupation during World War II in 1942 until 1945, the two provinces remained in close coordination until the present days. Interestingly, the dialects spoken by the two provinces were different: mainly Ilonggo in Negros Occidental, and mainly Cebuano in Negros Oriental. Until the present days, the two provinces have remained in close partnership and coordination with their governmental and various socio-economic programs for their people. Incidentally, the Island of Siquijor was also eventually declared as a separate province all together.