House ratifies bill creating the NIR

By Maricel V. Cruz

THE House of Representatives has unanimously approved on third and final reading a measure creating the Negros Island Region (NIR) in the Visayas.

House Bill (HB) 7355 titled, “An Act establishing the Negros Island Region, and appropriating funds therefor” garnered 290 affirmative votes during nominal voting on Monday.

The creation of the NIR has been advocated by lawmakers in the region, as they believe it would bring more progress and solidarity among their constituents.

The measure gained traction in the 19th Congress under the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

It is one of the 12 priority measures of the Marcos administration that the House of Representatives under the leadership of Speaker Martin Romualdez vowed to pass this year.

Some of the principal authors of the bill are Negros Occidental Reps. Juliet Marie de Leon Ferrer, Alfredo Marañon III, and Francisco Benitez, and Abang Lingkod Party-list Rep. Joseph Stephen Paduano. Under HB No. 7355, the NIR will be composed of provinces, including the cities, municipalities, and barangays located in the provinces of Negros Oriental, Negros Occidental, and Siquijor, including Bacolod City. The measure provides for the creation of the Negros Island technical working group (TWG).

nal 3. There were also reports of missed flights due to the kilometric queues that reportedly took the passengers two hours or more to negotiate.

In January, more than 20 passengers of a local airline were unable to board their flight to Hong Kong due to long queues at the airport. The airline provided them with options such as free rebooking, full refund or travel fund.

MIAA general manager Cesar Chiong earlier said his office was working with the BI to ease congestion of departing passengers at the immigration counters.

“We are getting the commitment from the Bureau of Immigration to increase their manpower even before the surge of passengers comes during the peak hours