BY
JENNIFER C. TILOS
DUMAGUETE CITY, April
26 (PIA) -- Interior and Local Government secretary Mar Roxas led a
consultation on the creation of the One Negros Island Region while
militant groups held protest caravan in Dumaguete City recently.
Sec Roxas said
proposal on one island region may provide a bridge to progress. “We
all want progress, so this is a clear way to make it happen.”
Roxas cited millions
of pesos have been allocated by the Regional Development Council (RDC) but
Negros Oriental only gets 10 percent of the region's budget while
Occidental only gets 20-25 percent of region 6 budget.
“With this it is
understandable why the Negrenses desire for a direct representation of as a one
region, said Roxas.
However, Bagong
Alyansang Makabayan-Negros Oriental along with PISTONl, KAUGMAON-KMP,
BANIKA-AMIHAN, ANAKBAYAN, PADAYON and SINAGBAYAN demonstrated its opposition to
the proposal in a protest caravan and picketed outside Silliman University,
where the consultation was held.
Anakbayan head Candido
Ebarle said their groups expressed their outrage to the plan citing it as an
acquisitive intent at the expense of the people.
As proposed by the
Negros Oriental Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NOCCI) president Edward
Du, he believed that the local businessmen and local government executives
would no longer go to Cebu for their passports, licenses and franchise or just
to follow-up for their approvals. “We’ll also be saving a lot of money,” Du
echoed.
If Negros Occidental
and Oriental will be united, a lot of transactions will be done easily and
development will surely grow faster, said Du.
They can see the need
to establish regional offices and sectors in Negros because travelling to Cebu
or Ilo-ilo is a waste of money, time, and effort.
Roxas noted that one
of the reasons Negros Oriental is poor because of lesser infrastructure
such as roads and bridges.
Since Negros Oriental
is one of the poorest provinces in the country, Roxas said that One
Negros Island Region could be an avenue to elevate the province’s status.
“If the project will
be settled, more budgets will be given to Negros Oriental, which could be a big
help to be spent in building infrastructures,” the Secretary said.
To make it happen, he
encouraged the local governments to conduct forums, debates, and any other
means for other Negrenses to know and to share their opinions as almost 50
percent of the total population are not aware about the proposal.
“We cannot deny that
sometimes we’re left behind,” Roxas added. He also cited that according to his
study, One-Negros Island region is the best way to prevent the two provinces
from being left behind. (mbcn/jct/PIA7-Negros Oriental/ with reports from
Sheena Mae Diongco, SU Intern)