Negros Island Region interim directors named

CEBU, Philippines - Interim regional directors for Negros Island Region, two be based in Dumaguete City, and another one to be based in Bacolod City, were appointed to start the partial operations of their respective national government agencies for the new region, towards their full operations by January next year.

Taking their first day in office since October 1 were: Department of Social Welfare and Development-7 Assistant Regional Director Shalyn Marie Sun Lucero, taking charge of the DSWD-NIR; Department of Trade and Industry-7 Regional Director Aster Caberte to run the DTI-NIR on a concurrent capacity; and Renato Manantan, former regional executive director of Region IV-B, to head the Department of Agriculture-NIR.

Lucero and Caberte, two interim directors for the NIR offices in Dumaguete, paid a courtesy call on Negros Oriental Roel Degamo, while Manantan, for the DA-NIR office in Bacolod, met with Negros Occidental Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr.

The two officials for the Dumaguete-based NIR offices, of the DSWD and the DTI, said they will come to the city once a week to conduct meetings with their counterparts in Negros Occidental.

Degamo, who was a bit surprised that interim regional directors were named by their respective secretaries, said he was expecting for the approval first of the NIR’s implementing rules and regulations before this because there was still no budget for such agencies to speak of.

The DSWD regional office for the NIR was number one in the list of government agencies that Degamo wanted to be established in Negros Oriental.

In the case of the DA-NIR regional office in Bacolod, Negros Occidental Provincial Planning and Development Officer Maria Lina Sanogal said such office will be housed temporarily at the city’s Farmers’ Training Center, but was still waiting for the guidelines from the Department of Budget and Management on the use of available funds for the interim structures.

President Benigno Aquino III on May 29, signed Executive Order 183, separating Negros Occidental from Western Visayas and Negros Oriental from Central Visayas and putting the two provinces into the NIR. He then directed all national agency heads to name interim directors not later than October 1, and complete their offices by January 1. — Juancho R. Gallarde and Marchel P. Espina (FREEMAN)