BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – Negros Oriental governor Roel Degamo has put forward a proposal for the creation of a new province as a “counter-proposal” before agreeing to support the reestablishment of the Negros Island Region (NIR).
Degamo met with Negros Occidental’s Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson on Wednesday morning in Dumaguete City, with the latter hoping to change Degamo’s mind and support reestablishing the region.
Degamo wants the town of Vallehermoso in Negros Oriental and the cities of San Carlos, Escalante and Sagay and the towns of Calatrava and Toboso in Negros Occidental to form a new province.
The said local government units are all located at the extreme northern portion of the island.
He said his proposal is meant to address what he calls an unequal voting within the Regional Development Council (RDC) meetings if the NIR was ever established.
Another reason behind the proposal is the “cultural barrier” wherein most of the people in the Occidental side of the island use the Hiligaynon language, while the Oriental side and the extreme northern portion of the Occidental side are using the Cebuano or Bisaya language.
Lacson said the language and cultural barriers between the two provinces are a small matter and can be easily addressed.
“Ang iya gid ‘ya punto is equal footing, because the province of Negros Occidental is the dominant province, and since we are the bigger province, they [Negros Oriental] will always get out voted,” Lacson pointed out.
He said Degamo did not really outright reject reestablishing the NIR. Although the Negros Occidental governor said he wants to address the issue of equal footing; he doesn’t want Negros Oriental and even Siquijor island to be overpowered due to Negros Occidental’s dominance.
“We will help all provinces under the new region, so ang equal footing na lang ang i-address ta,” Lacson said.
He further stated that even the issue involving the RDC chairmanships could also be addressed easily with Negros Oriental getting the chairmanship term first followed by Siquijor and then Negros Occidental.
“How do we assure him? Again, we just have to continue talking to him [Degamo],” he pointed out.
Lacson added that he will hold talks with Degamo again in the next couple of weeks to further discuss the NIR issue.
A substitute bill seeking the reestablishment of the NIR includes the provinces of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental and Siquijor island province.
The substitute bill was jointly submitted by Negros Occidental 1st District’s Cong. Gerardo Valmayor Jr., 2nd District’s Cong. Alfredo “Thirdy” Marañon III, 3rd District’s Cong. Jose Francisco “Kiko” Benitez, 4th District’s Cong. Juliet Ferrer, 5th District’s Cong. Emilio “Dino” Yulo, 6th District’s Cong. Mercedes “Cheding” Alvarez-Lansang, and Bacolod City Lone District’s Cong. Greg Gasataya.
The bill’s counterpart in the Senate, Senate Bill 1236, authored by Sen. JV Ejercito, has already hurdled the committee on local government in December of last year.
NIR was first established through an executive order issued by then President Benigno Aquino III in 2015. But it was dissolved by his successor, then President Rodrigo Duterte, in 2017 due to the high cost of maintaining the region./PN