Senate approves Negros Island Region bill on final reading
By HANA BORDEY, GMA Integrated News Published March 12, 2024 5:41pm The Senate on Tuesday approved on third and final reading a bill seeking to create the Negros Island Region. Senate Bill 2507 got 22 affirmative votes, zero negative votes, and zero abstentions. The proposed Negros Island Region will be composed of Negros Occidental, Bacolod […]
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By HANA BORDEY, GMA Integrated News
The Senate on Tuesday approved on third and final reading a bill seeking to create the Negros Island Region.
Senate Bill 2507 got 22 affirmative votes, zero negative votes, and zero abstentions.
The proposed Negros Island Region will be composed of Negros Occidental, Bacolod City, Negros Oriental, and Siquijor.
Senator JV Ejercito, sponsor of the measure, said the goal is for the six clusters of regional offices to be divided between the two halves of the island to ensure the effective delivery of services.
He added that the proposed legislation will strengthen local autonomy and accelerate the economic, cultural, and social and development of the region.
The counterpart measure of the bill in the House of Representatives was approved on final reading in March 2023.
In 2017, then-president Rodrigo Duterte issued Executive Order 38, formally dissolving the two-year-old region created under the Aquino administration. — BM, GMA Integrated News
