IF METRO Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MBCCI) Chief Executive Officer Frank Carbon is to be believed, politics may be behind the opposition of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo over the re-establishment of the Negros Island Region (NIR).
Carbon said Degamo's reasoning of Negros Oriental prefering to stay with Central Visayas due to cultural issues is "shallow."
Carbon said 80 percent of the mayors in Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental are supportive of the NIR's re-establishment, and all lawmakers from both provinces are also for it.
The local business leader also said that proposed talks between Degamo and Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson could remedy the situation.
Earlier this week during the 4th Regional Development Council – Central Visayas (RDC-7) Full Council Meeting in Cebu City, Degamo said he has no problem if his province remains under the Central Visayas region.
Aside from language barrier, Degamo cited cultural differences between Negros Oriental and Negros Occidental.
For one, he said, people of the Oriental side of Negros prefer sticking with the Cebuano-speaking people of Cebu, Bohol and Siquijor.
“Reviving NIR should not be done hastily. There are a lot of issues. For example, the cultural differences between the Ilonggos and the Bisaya,” Degamo pointed out.
Lacson, meanwhile, said Degamo's statement "is not good news" and he wants to reach out to his counterpart and seek clarification.
All lawmakers in Negros Island and Siquijor are pushing for NIR’s reestablishment.
The Senate also approved five bills related to NIR, with Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri authorizing one of them.
The NIR was established in 2015 through an Executive Order issued by then President Benigno Aquino III.
However, it was dissolved two years later by then-President Rodrigo Duterte. He deemed the region too costly to maintain. (TDE)