I AM glad that the clamor for the establishment of one Negros island or Negros Island Region (NIR) has been reopened as a public interest concern.
Frankly, as a practicing sociologist and community development planner, I am for it, and it is long overdue, If I must stress.
So, why one island region?
Negros is not only the fourth largest island of the Philippines, it is also one of the richest in terms of natural resources, foremost its agriculture, mineral and marine resources, and its naturally-endowed beautiful sceneries.
It is at the heart of central Philippines, between Cebu, the acknowledged center of commerce and trade in the Visayas and Mindanao, and Iloilo-Panay, the traditional center of regional economy, politics and culture.
Negros is an integral part of the growth corridor of central Philippines, from Iloilo to Cebu, Tagbilaran to Tacloban. The infrastructures of this corridor are developing fast, and in the next few years, inter island bridges will further boost its growth.
The vast potentials of Negros to become a progressive, inclusive, resilient, smart self-sustaining modern agro-industrial region cannot be under-estimated. The important forces and means of production to realize it are there to be unleashed.
Even with each other's resource fundamentals not yet fully and rightly developed, its present and largely monocrop sugar-based economy already contributes significantly to its annual gross domestic product (GDP) and regional gross domestic product (RGDP).
What more if its vast and rich agricultural lands, wide flat lands, hydro sources, geothermal sources, wind channels, wide and longer exposure to sun, long and wide inland revers, diverse mineral reserves, marine stocks, are effectively and rightly harnessed – instead of being plundered by ravenous interest groups?
What more if its tens of thousands of skilled young people produced by best local technical universities, colleges and technical-vocational schools – are given enough and right programmatic support by the local government units to develop, lead and manage light, medium and even few heavy industries to stir urban and rural industrialization – instead of finding jobs abroad?
What more if its more than a million army of agro-industrial workers are rightly-supported, well-fed and basic rights-protected – instead of increasingly turning seasonal and condemned?
What more if its present thousands of low paid professionals, teachers, engineers, scientists, medical technologists, among others, are provided with adequate socio-economic protection and rightly mobilized for necessary learning services and the research and development and scientific practices – instead of just being exploited for wrong social, political and economic priorities?
What more if the billions of local and national funds and assets in local government units are rightly directed, effectively managed and monitored for the right development policies, programs and activities – instead of being devoured by the politicians' blatant and glaring practices of graft and corruption and patronage politics?
The potentials of Negros to become a leading developed one island region in the country, where its people live in prosperity and peace with dignity, is clearly not without basis.
All it needs to realize is a strong consensus of development perspective from major stakeholders, workers, farmers, fishers, odd-jobbers, academic community, science-technology-engineering circles, civil society organizations, business organizations, foundations, cooperatives, women organizations, cultural artists, faith communities, and the acknowledged community leaders.
The formation of one island Negros should not be left to the politicians of local government units and their political dynasties, because their big mouths, rich pockets and inter-locking directorates often make their voices, the measurement of everything.
I know and let us acknowledge that right now there are different perspectives on NIR.
One perspective is from politicians representing big political dynasties. Their agenda is decipherable.
The other is the perspective from advocates of a federal government, whose variants are numerous and often in conflict with each other.
The least expressed, which is often repressed, is the perspective on the ground, that of the vast marginalized and vulnerable sectors and class groups.
Where and how to start the process of unification - not imposition - is not easy. Bias and prejudices will easily catch up with any process.
Still, I believe that sincere or well-intentioned and transparent dialogues between different NIR perspectives should begin somewhere.
To end, let me paraphrase St. Francis of Assisi in one his exhortations to his followers who felt their mission is already advancing but not really, “let us begin for we have done not much yet.”*