Bayawan mayor throws support for One Negros

NEGROS ORIENTAL, Philippines – Bayawan Mayor Ismael Martinez said the creation of One Negros Region would be beneficial for his city as it will pave the way for more projects compared to when Negros Oriental province is part of the with Central Visayas region.

“When we form a one Island region, we are assured of a share of the regional pie,” said Martinez in an interview with Cebu-based journalists during a tour around his city’s aquaculture and tree nursery.

Authorities, he said, will also be able to respond well in peace and order problems such as insurgency. Martinez said that in the present setup, two Army commands need to coordinate when an operation is done against rebels.

The mayor said that even if Negros Occidental gets bigger funding, the Negros Oriental province will still get more than what it receives compared to what it currently gets under Central Visayas, where 4 provinces share the funds.

“We are willing to share 50% of the pie compared to Region 7 where there are 4 Provinces, we are suppose to get (only) 25% in Negros Oriental,” Martinez said.

“But very seldom we get only 10 to 15%,” Martinez quipped. “The bulk of pie, the resources available to the region goes to Cebu and Bohol.”

Bayawan City is among the Negros Oriental nearest to neighboring Negros Occidental. It is about 150 kilometers away from Dumaguete City and travel time is about 4 hours.

In security and peace and order, Martinez added that when a rebel is being chased by authorities from the Central Command, one only needs to cross to the Occidental where there is a different Western Command.

“If there is one Negros region, there will be no boundary, this is one island,” Martinez said.

Martinez also belittles concerns over language barriers. He said that during one of the meetings conducted for the region proposal, he spoke in Cebuano and everybody including the Occidental officials who are Illonggos understood.

“In the last conference, I talked in Cebuano just to test the Ilonggos if they can understand and when Gov. Marañon spoke, he did it Cebuano,” he said.

“We may not be fluent (with each others languages) but we can understand,” Martinez added. – Rappler.com