Negrense senatorial aspirant Alex Lacson has joined the mounting calls to revive the Negros Island Region (NIR), which was abolished by President Rodrigo Duterte in 2017.
Lacson, who hails from Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental, said he supports the proposal to revive the NIR, which was created through an executive order of then president Benigno Aquino III in 2015.
Since the NIR was created through EO 183, Lacson said it was not given a budget by the administration of Duterte. But if Congress will create the NIR through a law, then the Department of Budget and Management is mandated to earmark a budget for its operations, he added.
Lacson said that if elected senator, he will push for the NIR creation, through a law.
Former Negros Occidental Vice Gov. Dino Yulo, who is running for congressman in the 5th district of Negros Occidental, also vowed to work for the NIR revival.
Lacson, meanwhile, is among the 12 senatorial candidates of presidential aspirant Leni Robredo and vice presidential bet Francisco “Kiko” Pangilinan.
He also pledged to work out the full utilization of the P2 billion fund component of the Sugarcane Industry Development Act (SIDA), which was reduced to P267 million last year.
If the P2 billion fund is fully utilized, it could subsidize sugar farmers from the impact of the skyrocketing prices of fertilizer, said Lacson, who paid a courtesy call on Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson yesterday at the Provincial Capitol in Bacolod City. — GB
