Gov. Marañon asks Church to back One-Negros Region

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — Negros Occidental Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. had sought the support of the church on the proposed Negros Island Region bid.

Marañon, at the 7th Founding Anniversary of the Church-Military and Police Advisory Group-Negros held recently at Mambukal Resort, said the bid is vital to achieve integrated and sustainable development and lasting peace in two Negros provinces—Occidental and Oriental.

The governor noted that 90 percent of the people from Oriental and Occidental sides are now in favor of the proposed new region because of the unlimited benefits it will bring to Negrenses.

He cited in particular the government’s peace and order campaign. “If the Armed Forces has one common command,  and the Philippine National Police also has a unified set up, containing crimes and concerns related to internal security are much easier to handle,” he said.

“Both the military and police wanted peace integration and development. They would be able to manage the peace and order situation well if there is one integrated command,” said the governor.

Marañon also said that, while Negros Occidental is 43 percent of Western Visayas in terms of land area, income and population, it only receives 13 percent of the revenue pie because the bulk of the development funds have been concentrated in the provinces in Panay island—Iloilo, Capiz, Antique, Aklan and Guimaras.

The governor further belied claims that establishing a new region will require an appropriation of P40 billion for the construction of new regional offices.

“If the Negros Island Region is approved by President Aquino through an executive order, existing offices of national government agencies in both provinces will be utilized as regional offices. So there is no need to immediately start with infrastructure-related projects,” he said.

To ensure that the cost will be minimal, employees from both provinces will be tapped so that the delivery of services in both sides of the island is “unhampered and any actual construction will be done on a staggered basis,” he said.

“The effect of the one island region is tremendous. It will last a lifetime into the next generations of Negrenses,” the governor said.

Marañon disclosed plans to connect Himamaylan City in Occidental to Tayasan, Negros Oriental that will consequently result in shorter travel time as the distance between the two local government units is only about 35 kilometers.

Right now, all documentations of the proposed one-island region are already with the Department of Interior of Local and Government for review, and eventual approval.