• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Three senators, who attended the MassKara Festival in Bacolod City over the weekend, aired their support to the proposed creation of the Negros Island Region (NIR).
Senators Lito Lapid, Mark Villar and Francis Tolentino, in separate media interviews on Oct. 20, said they will support the will of the Negrenses.
The NIR bill, which was already approved in the House of Representatives, is now pending for deliberations before the Senate committee on local government chaired by Senator JV Ejercito, whose mother, Guia Gomez, has family 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 added.
Tolentino said the consensus right now is for the reestablishment of the NIR.
“I support the NIR,” he said.
Villar, who attended the MassKarade Ball at the Sugarland Hotel on Friday, also expressed support to the people’s will.
“I will follow the will of the people of Negros. I will always support the people of Negros,” he added.
The proposed creation of the NIR will include the island-province of Siqujior, aside from the provinces of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental, and the highly-urbanized city of Bacolod.
Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri recently facilitated a meeting between three the governors of three provinces, which was also attended by Senator Ejercito and Special Assistant to the President Antonio Lagdameo, who both expressed their support to creation of the NIR. | GB
