- GILBERT BAYORAN
The Negros Island Region bill, or House Bill 7355, was unanimously approved on third and final reading March 6 by the House of Representatives, Negros Occidental 3rd District Rep. Jose Francisco Benitez said.
The bill, authored by all Negros Island solons, pushes for the establishment of a new Visayas region that will be composed of the provinces of Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, and Siquijor.
Negros Occidental 4th District Rep. Juliet Marie Ferrer also reported that the House passed the bill with 290 affirmative votes, zero negative votes, and zero abstention.
“We are grateful to Speaker Martin Romualdez and all the members of Congress for the unanimous approval of the bill,” Ferrer said.
Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said the passage of the law creating the NIR by December would be a nice Christmas gift.
“I think it’s really very positive. It looks like it’s really going to happen,” Lacson said.
“We will then have to wait for the Senate version,” the governor said, as he recalled that many of the senators had made it a campaign promise to support the creation of the NIR during the 2019 campaign period./GB
