• CHERYL G. CRUZ
Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri said July 3 that he expects the full operation of the Negros Island Region to start in the first quarter of 2025, and with the needed budgets of the regional offices already in place.
Zubiri, in a press conference in Bacolod City this afternoon, called on every department to start crafting their respective action plans for the NIR.
“We need to hit the ground running. Every department should have specific plans in compliance to the NIR” that was signed into law, or Republic Act 12000, by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. last June 13, stressed the senator, who co-authored the bill in the Senate with Senator JV Ejercito.
Zubiri, who traces his roots to Negros Occidental, said he is willing to assist in the budgeting of the NIR regional offices, noting that the budget season is coming. “By November, we will have a clear picture” on the NIR funding, he added.
He said he met with the NIR solons and officials July 3 to discuss the funding requirements and the specific locations of each regional office that will be established, either in Negros Occidental or Negros Oriental.
Under Section 4 of the law, regional offices that will be established in Negros Occidental include the departments of Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resources, Agrarian Reform, and Human Settlements and Urban Development, all under the Agriculture and Land-related Cluster;
The departments of Justice, Interior and Local Government, Philippine National Police, and the National Defense, or the Peace and Security Cluster, and;
The Governance Cluster, composed of the departments of Budget and Management, Finance, National Economic and Development Authority, Foreign Affairs, Commission on Audit, and Commission on Elections.
The remaining government agencies will be established in Negros Oriental, to ensure the effective delivery of public services.
While no regional office will be put up in Siquijor, which is also part of NIR, Zubiri urged residents in this island province to give the law a chance.
He noted that it takes only about 20 minutes for Siquijorians to travel to Negros Oriental and avail of the services of about 16 regional offices that will be established there.
Negros Occidental 6th District Rep. Mercedes Alvarez, who was also at the press conference, said the NIR Technical Working Group (TWG) will meet after the July 22 State of the Nation Address of Marcos to discuss all concerns on the newly-minted law.
The TWG, composed of the NEDA, DILG, DBM, the NIR solons and governors of the three provinces, is tasked “to formulate the roadmap to put in place all institutional arrangements for the NIR, as well as concerns on development planning, investment programming, and public service provision.
The NEDA, DILG, and DBM, in consultation with the provincial governments of Negros and Siquijor, are also mandated to promulgate the law’s Implementing Rules and Regulations within 60 days after the publication of RA 12000. | CGC
