Duterte dissolves 2-year-old Negros Island Region

President Rodrigo Duterte has formally dissolved the Negros Island Region that was created in 2015 by his immediate predecessor.

Last August 7,  Duterte signed Executive Order 38, revoking former President Benigno Aquino III's Executive Order 183 (s. 2015).

"The establishment of regional offices (RO) of departments and agencies in the NIR (Negros Island Region) requires substantial appropriation to be fully operational, thus competing with government priority programs and projects for funding," Duterte's EO 38 reads. 

With the new EO, regional councils and offices are directed to return to their previous units of deployment or to be reassigned to other offices.

Government operations in the NIR should be done within 60 days.

Meanwhile, the Department of the Interior and Local Government will supervise the reversion of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental provinces to Regions VI and VII respectively.

In 2015, Aquino ordered that the provinces of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental be integrated into a single region.

Through EO 183, signed 29 May 2015, Aquino created the NIR supposedly to “improve the delivery of public services” in the two provinces.

Senators react

In a statement sent to media on Wednesday, Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri said he is saddened about the abolition of NIR, but respects Duterte's decision.

"Let me reassure you that we will not stop looking for reasons to have the NIR re-established," he said.

Zubiri added that the three provinces "will definitely play a key role in the President's vision to move our form of government towards federalism."

"In the coming budget deliberations we can see to it that development programs for the three provinces will be funded," he said.

Senator Bam Aquino, meanwhile, said abolishing NIR may hamper the region's development and poverty alleviation efforts.

"At the very least, this issue warrants a public discussion and we hope the Senate can still hold a hearing on the resolutions we've filed last year," he said.

Aquino and Zubiri filed separate resolutions in 2016 asking the government to look more closely into the NIR issue. —LBG/KG, GMA News