- CHERYL G. CRUZ
Negros Occidental 3rd District Rep. Jose Francisco Benitez said he hopes that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will mention in his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 25 the Negros Island Region and the Panay-Guimaras-Negros (PGN) bridges project.
The NIR revival was foremost on the minds of Negrenses, and was a political issue during the campaign for the presidential and local elections in May, Benitez said, adding he hopes it will be mentioned in the SONA when Marcos Jr. will discuss specifics on the direction that his administration will take in the next six years.
The solon said the inter-island bridges project is also one important issue for Western Visayas stakeholders. “Tani maupod sa Build, Build, Build continuation” or through the public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement.
The P189.53-billion project involves the construction of a 32.47-kilometer, four-lane, two sea-crossing bridges, including roads and interchanges that will connect the islands of Panay, Guimaras and Negros.
Meanwhile, Benitez said the expanded NIR proposal that he and other Negros solons have filed in the 19th Congress will either be referred to the House Committee on Reorganization or the Visayan Development Committee, after it passed first reading.
He is optimistic that the proposal will be given priority in whichever committee it will be referred to since it has the support of many solons.
Aside from Benitez, other signatories of House Bill 1446 are representatives Greg Gasataya of Bacolod, Gerardo Valmayor Jr. (1st District of Negros Occidental), Emilio Bernardino “Dino” Yulo (5th), and Mercedes Alvarez (6th), Negros Oriental representatives Jocelyn Sy-Limkaichong (1st), Manuel Sagarbarria (2nd), and Arnolfo Teves Jr. (3rd), as well as Abang Lingkod Partylist Rep. Joseph Stephen Paduano.
The bill is seeking the creation of Region VI-B, to be composed of the highly-urbanized Bacolod City and the provinces of Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, and Siquijor.
Negros Occidental 2nd District Rep. Alfredo Marañon III also filed House Bill 330, for the creation of the NIR to be composed of Negros Occidental and Oriental, and Benitez said all NIR proposals will be consolidated at the committee level./CGC
