• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Three senators who attended the MassKara Festival in Bacolod City have aired their support for the creation of the Negros Island Region.
Senators Lito Lapid, Mark Villar, and Francis Tolentino, in separate media interviews on October 20, said they will support whatever Negrenses want.
The proposed creation of Negros Island Region, which was already approved by the House of Representatives, is currently pending deliberations before the Senate committee on Local Government, chaired by Senator JV Ejercito, whose mother, Guia, has roots in Negros Occidental.
If it will be tackled in the Senate, and if the people of Negros wants it, “doon ako,” Lapid said.
We are not the ones to decide, but the people themselves, he stressed.
Tolentino said the consensus right now is for the reestablishment of the NIR… “I support the NIR.”
Villar, who joined the MassKarade Ball at the Sugarland Hotel on Friday, said “I will follow the will of the people of Negros… I will always support the people of Negros,” he stressed.
The proposed creation of NIR will include island of Siqujior, aside from Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental.
Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri recently facilitated a meeting between the governors of three provinces, which was also attended by Senator Ejercito and Special Assistant to the President Antonio Lagdameo, who expressed their support to NIR.
Zubiri expressed his optimism that it will be approved by the Senate before the end of 2023.
Senators Risa Hontiveros and Ronald dela Rosa also attended the Masskara Festival on Oct. 20 and 22, respectively.*
