• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The Negros Island Region (NIR) is expected to be fully functional by 2026, with its own budget, Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson disclosed on Friday.
In 2026, we will see the full implementation of the NIR, because they are now preparing its budget inclusion in the next year’s General Appropriations Act, Lacson said.
The creation of the NIR, which is composed of the provinces of Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, and Siquijor, was signed into law by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in June last year, five years after it was abolished by then President Rodrigo Duterte, after its initial establishment was made through an executive order issued by the late President Benigno Aquino III.
Lacson said that NIR regional offices are already functioning, using the budget of Regions 6 and 7.
Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez, the outgoing chairperson of the Western Visayas Regional Development Council, earlier said that the newly formed administrative region will be officially operational after February 18, following the publication of RA 12000, which establishes the NIR.
Benitez said a meeting has been scheduled on Feb. 17 for all regional directors and officials of national government agencies to discuss the assignment of personnel and the set up of facilities.
With the signing of the law’s IRR, Benitez reiterated his stand that all national government agencies should have a presence in all provinces of the region.
“Whether it’s satellite, virtual, or any method that will allow transactions to take place in all the provinces within the NIR,” he said.
Some of the national government agencies that have already established offices in the NIR include the Department of Health, Department of Agriculture, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of Agrarian Reform, Commission on Elections, Office of Civil Defense, and the Philippine Statistics Authority.* with PNA reports
