Governors of Negros Oriental, Negros Occidental, and Siquijor have expressed their support for the re-establishment of Negros Island Region, Senate President Juan Miguel "Migz" Zubiri said Friday.

According to Zubiri, the provinces of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental have already agreed upon the list of which government agencies and offices should be located in which province, with Siquijor's agreement.

"We cannot expect our people to progress if we cannot even give them easy access to our government services," he said in a statement.

"The Negros region is so full of potential, and if we bring our services closer to them, that will surely translate to unprecedented development for our provinces," he added.

He issued the statement after meeting Senator JV Ejercito, Special Assistant to the President Anton Lagdameo, Negros Occidental Governor Bong Lacson and Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer, and Negros Oriental Governor Manuel "Chaco" Sagarbarria and Vice Governor Jake Reyes.

Siquijor Governor Jake Villa joined the meeting virtually.

Despite being part of the same island, the provinces of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental currently belong to separate administrative regions—Region VI and VII, respectively.

Meanwhile, the island of Siquijor belongs to Region VII as well.

In March, the House of Representatives unanimously approved the third and final reading of House Bill No. 7355 which seeks the re-establishment of Negros Island Region.

The Negros Island Region was first established through Executive Order 183 in 2015 by former President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III.

However, in 2017 then-President Rodrigo Duterte issued EO 38, which abolished the establishment of the Negros Island Region.

Duterte justified that the establishment of regional councils and offices for the NIR "requires substantial appropriation to be fully operational, thus competing with government priority programs and projects for funding."