President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday hinted at his approval for the creation of the Negros Island Region (NIR) that would combine Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, and Siquijor into a single region.
The said bill has already been passed by both houses of Congress and is now awaiting Marcos' signature.
Negros Occidental is currently under Region 6 or Western Visayas while Negros Oriental and Siquijor are under Region 7 or Central Visayas.
In a media interview in Bacolod City, Marcos acknowledged the challenges faced by Negros Oriental and neighboring regions in accessing services from the current regional centers.
He highlighted the long-standing issue and the potential benefits of consolidating the provinces under a single region with its own dedicated offices.
"I think it makes sense because it's very difficult for (Negros) Oriental to be, and be serviced in a regional center. So, it really needs to be fixed," Marcos said.
"It's very hard to bring government services to the people. That's the reason behind the push for making it a single region, so that it has its own regional office," Marcos added.
When directly asked if he would sign the bill, President Marcos replied, "Yeah, I think, I will sign it."
In 2015, under the term of the late President Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Aquino III, the Negros Island Region was established through an executive order, citing similar rationales.
In 2017, President Rodrigo Duterte dismantled the region, arguing that setting up regional offices for the NIR would divert funding from other government initiatives.
But last March, the Senate unanimously greenlit Senate Bill No. 2507 establishing the Negros Island Region to promote administrative decentralization and strengthen local autonomy to accelerate cultural and social development of the region.
Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, the principal author of the bill, explained that individuals from Negros Occidental conducting business with national government offices occasionally face delays in Iloilo due to adverse weather conditions.
Likewise, Zubiri pointed out that residents of Negros Oriental and Siquijor encounter similar challenges when they need to travel to Cebu for official matters.
The NIR Act, once enacted into law, will establish a technical working group (TWG) comprising the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) serving as the secretariat, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), the representatives from the Office of the Governor of the provinces, and representatives from all elected members of the House of Representatives of the provinces.