DILG admits ‘hard time’ in Negros Region plan

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines— A bleak future for the proposed One-Negros Island Region?

Interior Undersecretary Austere Panadero reportedly admitted that the department has been having a hard time pushing for the proposed new region, according to Provincial Planning and Development Coordinator Ma. Lina Sanogal.

Sanogal said Panadero called her two weeks ago and told her that the Department of Interior and Local Government is eyeing the possibility of putting up a Negros Island Development Council instead of creating a new region.

Panadero’s statement came after DILG reportedly received complaints of the absence in the province of satellite offices of vital government offices.

Sanogal explained that the proposed NIDC, which is like the Regional Development Council, will be under the Office of the President and tasked to coordinate the planning and implementation of projects for the whole Negros Island.

Further, Panadero said it is very expensive for the government to set up new regional offices for a new region, as the DILG noted the huge budgetary requirement for merging the two Negros provinces—Occidental and Oriental.

Sanogal said, upon the request of the DILG, she submitted a list of regional offices of the national agencies that are based in Iloilo City that have no satellite offices in Negros Occidental.

These offices are those of the Professional Regulations Commission, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, the Immigration and Quarantine of the Bureau of Immigration, the Commission on Higher Education and the testing centers of the National Police Commission.

Negros Occidental Vice Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson reacted to Panadero’s statement. “It’s like telling us that it (new region) will never happen,” he said although he remained optimistic that it will be otherwise.

Lacson said he hoped that Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo will change his opposition to the new region plan. “I hope he (Degamo) will see the light,” the vice governor said.

Degamo had been very vocal with his resistance, saying he was not convinced with the idea since no feasibility study can support it. “I think it is difficult for the national government to decide on this if there’s no agreement to both sides,” the vice governor said.

About 2,500 flyers were sent out Tuesday to Negros Oriental as part of the campaign to educate the people there about the advantages of the proposal and clarify any misconceptions over the One-Negros Island Region.

Meanwhile, Negros Occidental Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr., who on September 26 was officially sworn in as chairman of the Regional Development Council-6, had assured the people he will continue campaigning for the new region although he vowed not to get the RDC-6 get involved on the matter.

Marañon was sworn in by Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Sr. during the RDC-6 quarterly meeting in Iloilo City. He replaced Capiz Governor Victor Tanco Sr. at the helm of the council. (FREEMAN)