Negros Island Region Act signed

PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. yesterday signed Republic Act (RA) 12000 or the Negros Island Region (NIR) Act which consolidates the provinces of Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, and Siquijor under one administrative region.

The President, during the signing ceremony in Malacañang, said the enactment of the NIR was long overdue and “makes very practical sense, especially in the Negros Island, where people are located on one island but are governed under separate administrative regions.”

The NIR was first established in 2015 through Executive Order No. 183 issued by then President Benigno Simeon Aquino III. Former President Rodrigo Duterte, in August 2017, rescinded the EO and abolished the NIR.

Marcos said under the NIR, the three provinces are now under one region, and this will promote administration decentralization, strengthen local autonomy, and accelerate economic, cultural and social development.

He said that gone are days when the Negrenses have to endure the rigors of sea travel, unnecessary expenses, bureaucratic red tape, and inefficiency that the separation and placement of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental in separate regions – Western Visayas and Central Visayas, respectively — has brought.