BACOLOD CITY: The Regional Development Council-Western Visayas (RDC-6), headed by chairperson, Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez, convened here Monday to discuss preparations ahead of the creation of the Negros Island Region (NIR).
‘This is a consultative meeting between our congressmen, mayors, and regional directors in anticipation of the enactment of the NIR legislation. We are now moving in terms of trying to find all the concerns and issues on how to implement the new region,” Benitez told reporters on the sidelines of the meeting held at Ayala Malls Capitol Central Function Hall.
He said the bill creating the NIR, comprising the provinces of Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, and Siquijor and this highly urbanized city, was sent by Congress to Malacañang on May 13.
He noted that the President has 30 days to sign it or it will lapse into law.
Benitez said one concern was the lack of personnel in some national government agencies.
‘There were those who said they are undermanned to begin wi
th. We will push for an additional budget for those departments. It’s good that we listen to all the stakeholders in the creation of this region so we can find solutions to the issues before the actual implementation,” he added.
Benitez said that as chair of the RDC-Visayas Area Committee, he will ask the RDC-Central Visayas for a proposal on the staff complement, allocation of resources, and setting up of offices for the NIR.
“Another consultative meeting will be held with Negros Oriental and Siquijor to get their sentiments,” he said.
In the present setup, Negros Occidental and Bacolod are under Western Visayas, and Negros Oriental and Siquijor belong to Central Visayas, which have regional centers in Iloilo and Cebu, respectively.
Senate Bill 2507, adopted by the principal authors of the NIR bill in the House of Representatives, provides that the establishment and designation of the regional offices will be divided between the two Negros provinces.
Negros Occidental will host national government agenc
ies under the agriculture and land-related, peace and order and security, and governance clusters.
Negros Oriental will have those under the human development, infrastructure, industry and labor clusters.
Source: Philippines News Agency
