The Negros Island Region (NIR) roadmap, being drafted by key government agencies, local government units (LGUs), and civil society organizations (CSOs), is expected to be completed by the end of 2025.
A consultation held on July 3 at Nature’s Village Resort in Talisay City solicited concerns and perspectives from various national government agencies, local government units, and civil society organizations.
Marlon Jinon, chief economic development specialist and team leader of the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev)-NIR, and Regional Development Staff Director Remedios Endencia outlined the main components of the NIR Roadmap and 2025-2028 Regional Development Plan.
Together with Director Ryan Lita of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM)-Local Government and Regional Coordination Bureau, the DEPDev officials also discussed the creation of regional offices, councils, and digital governance platforms, and staffing and funding guidelines.
The NIR comprises the provinces of Negros Occidental, including the highly-urbanized Bacolod City, Negros Oriental and Siquijor.
In a statement, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG)-NIR reaffirmed its support for local governance in the region, noting that the roadmap focuses on shaping the institutional, developmental and administrative frameworks of the new administrative region.
“The consultation is a key step towards the completion of the NIR roadmap by the end of 2025 thus, providing for a unified and future-ready NIR,” it added.
During the opening of the DEPDev-NIR regional office in Bacolod City last March, Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said that in line with Republic Act (RA) 12000 or the NIR Act, the agency’s Regional Development Group is collaborating closely with the local stakeholders as well as with the DBM, DILG and other government agencies to develop a roadmap for the NIR.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who signed the RA 12000 in June last year, said the NIR would be a “bulwark of greater growth” and a “conduit” for more effective and efficient delivery of essential services. ||
