• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The suggestion that all regional offices of newly created Negros Island Region be located in one area, will require amendments to RA 12000, known as the NIR Act, Negros Occidental 5th district Representative Emilio Bernardino Yulo disclosed yesterday.
Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson earlier said that he prefers to have one place for all regional offices of various departments and line agencies, which was the original plan in the setup of the former NIR that was supposed have a regional center to be located at the border of Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental, and Mabinay, Negros Oriental.
Mayor Benjie Miranda also recalled that 500 hectares has been earmarked at the Central Philippines State University in Kabankalan City, for the NIR regional center.
As stated in the provisions of RA 12000, regional offices will be assigned in Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental, with national government agencies having the discretion of establishing sub-regional offices in any of the three NIR provinces, Yulo said.
The final draft of the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) was already completed during the recent meeting of NIR Technical Working Group, composed of representatives of the Department of Interior and Local Government, National Economic Development Authority, Department of Budget and Management, three governors of Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental and Siquijor, as well as NIR solons, held at Camp Crame in Quezon City, last week.
Yulo said copies of the final draft will be forwarded to the three NIR governors, district representatives, different line agencies of the government, DILG, NEDA, and DBM for comments.
If there is none, the NIR IRR will be signed before the end of August, with the signing ceremony proposed to be held in Siquijor, he added.
During the transition period, which is the migration of Negros Occidental from Region 6, and Negros Oriental and Siquijor from Region 7, the budget needed will be carved out from the existing budget submitted by various government agencies for the two regions in the 2025 National Expenditure Program (NEP), which eventually forms part of the General Appropriations Act, Yulo further said.
But the annual P1.2 billion budget for NIR for the next three years may have to wait until 2026, because the NIR was signed into law by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. after the proposed 2025 NEP was already completed, Yulo said.
On the other hand, the NIR Road Map is targeted for submission to the Office of the President by January 30 next year, according to the solon.*
