• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
In anticipation of the signing of the Negros Island Region (NIR) bill into law, the provincial government of Negros Occidental is offering five hectares of property in Talisay City, Negros Occidental to be the site of national government offices assigned in the province under the new region.
Several years ago, the provincial government purchased a 25-hectare property in Barangay Matab-ang, Talisay City.
“We will consider apportioning part of that land in Talisay City, as a regional center, maybe five hectares,” Lacson said, adding that the approval of NIR bill by the Senate is a “promise fulfilled”.
Still, Lacson said he is expecting challenges.
“It’s a good development but there is a lot of work to be done,” he said. “We just hope that the President signs it into law even before his SONA (State of the Nation Address)”.
The NIR will be composed of Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental and island- province of Siquijor.
In 2015, then president Benigno S. Aquino III established the NIR through Executive Order No. 183, but the new region was abolished when Rodrigo Roa Duterte succeeded him in 2016.
Negros Occidental Third District Rep. Jose Francisco Benitez and his brother, Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez, who chairs the Regional Development Council-Western Visayas, are optimistic that the NIR bill will soon be signed into law by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Benitez earlier said that Bacolod City is already preparing for transition to the new region even before the passage of the NIR bill. | GB
