- GILBERT BAYORAN
Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri and Senator Juan Victor Ejercito assured Negrosanons on Tuesday, Nov. 29, that the proposed Negros Island Region has a big chance of being approved in the Senate.
Ejercito, who chairs the Senate Local Government committee, said that his committee will start the hearing on the proposed NIR next week.
Zubiri said the proposed NIR is among his 10 priority bills for passage in the Senate.
Negros Occidental 2nd District Rep. Alfredo Marañon III, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson, and Vice Gov. Jeffrey Ferrer are also pushing for the creation of one island Negros region, while Negros Occidental 3rd District Rep. Jose Francisco Benitez wants to include Siquijor in the new region.
Zubiri and Ejercito said that they will do their best to approve it in the committee level by the first quarter of next year.
Zubiri and Ejercito have family roots in the cities of Kabankalan and Silay, respectively.
Negros Occidental 6th District Rep. Mercedes Alvarez earlier said she will study the proposal of the Department of Budget and Management and the National Economic and Development Authority, to create sub-regions for Regions 6 and 7.
As proposed by DBM and NEDA, Negros Occidental and Bacolod will compose Region 6A, while Negros Oriental and Siquijor will belong to Region 7A.
But Alvarez said the proposal is yet to be brought before the Technical Working Group, that she chairs.
The TWG was tasked by the House Committee on Local Government to consolidate all the proposed NIR bills.
Marañon earlier said the TWG is still discussing the consolidated NIR bills, which he initially called the Siquijor, Negros Region, or SNR./GB
