THE top official of the Regional Development Council (RDC) assured Negrenses there will be equitable income sharing in Western Visayas.
Negros Occidental reverted to Western Visayas after President Rodrigo Duterte abolished Negros Island Region (NIR) in August this year.
Antique Governor Rhodora Cadiao, chair of RDC-Western Visayas, who met with Negros Occidental Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. Monday, November 13, at the Provincial Capitol said “nobody will be left behind.”
“We will be all in this together – our fight in drugs, war, criminality and corruption," she added.
Negrense officials have pushed for the creation of NIR due to the disparity in the budget that their provinces get in their previous regions.
Cadiao admitted that when she first attended the RDC-Western Visayas meeting, not as chairman, she was “shocked” to learn that all projects that were laid out were for Iloilo.
“I even commented if this is Iloilo Regional Development Council or RDC-6,” she said.
Cadiao added: “I found out why Antique was not part and parcel of the planning because the Provincial Government is slow in endorsing the project.”
She said there will be equitable sharing of income among the provinces in the region, adding that the Negros Occidental Provincial Government endorsed billions worth of projects in the last RDC-Western Visayas meeting and they approved it.
With Negros Occidental joining Western Visayas, it will help thrive the region’s economy as the province is a “major player,” she said.
Cadiao added that RDC-Western Visayas will not deny the presence of “big and rich big brother like Negros Occidental.”
Cadiao said the biggest plan for the Visayas is interconnectivity – bridges that will connect Iloilo, Guimaras and Negros Occidental; and Negros Oriental to Cebu.
She said the study on the Negros-Panay Bridge is ongoing, adding that it's already included in the administration's “Build, Build, Build” program.
“Suffice to say, since it’s already in the planning stage, it will happen. If not in our time, maybe in the next election,” she said.