• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Senator Imee Marcos said on Thursday (May 23) she is certain that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will sign the Negros Island Region (NIR) bill into law.
Marcos made the declaration in the wake of opposition from the Diocese of Dumaguete in Negros Oriental and a group of Siquijor residents, who are appealing to the President to veto the NIR bill allegedly for lack of consultation.
While she is confident that it will be signed into law, the senator said “I am not certain just yet when it will be scheduled”.
“I’m certain it will be scheduled shortly but the problem with the NIR bill, which will become a law, it requires quite a large budget,” she said.
Marcos added that she is “sure they are computing what is necessary to start transferring offices, and to also expedite infrastructure requirements such as power and port connections, and even the bridges that have been promised a long time ago”.
The budget considerations are probably being undertaken now, she said.
Negros Island lawmakers, who co- authored the NIR bill, and local government officials are optimistic that the NIR bill will be signed into law before the President’s State of the Nation Address in July. | GB
