Negros Island Region

Negros Island Region
Proposed Region
Proposed Component Provinces shaded in red
Country	Philippines
Island Group	Visayas
Regional Center	Bacolod and Dumaguete (temporary) Kabankalan and Mabinay (de jure)*
Area
• Total	13,665.89 km2 (5,276.43 sq mi)
Population (2010)
• Total	4,194,525
• Density	313.59/km2 (812.2/sq mi)
Divisions
• Highly urbanized cities	1
• Component cities	18
• Municipalities	45
• Barangays	1353
• Districts	11
Time zone	PHT (UTC+8)
Spoken languages	Hiligaynon, Cebuano, English, Spanish
Bacolod and Dumaguete will be joint, temporary regional centers for a three-year transition period. Kabankalan and neighboring Mabinay are proposed to be joint regional centers.

The Negros Island Region (NIR) is a proposed region in the island of Negros to be composed of the provinces of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental with the highly urbanized city of Bacolod in the Philippines. Siquijor has also expressed interest to join in the proposed region.^[1][2][3]

Political divisions

Province/City		Capital	Population (2010)	Area (km²)	Pop. density (per km²)
	Negros Occidental	Bacolod¹	2,396,039	7,965.21	300
	Negros Oriental	Dumaguete	1,286,666	5,385.53	240
	Siquijor	Siquijor	91,066	337.49	270
	Bacolod¹	—	511,820	162.67	3,100

¹ Bacolod is a highly urbanized city; figures are excluded from Negros Occidental.

History

Colonial Period

Negros was originally called Buglas, an old Hiligaynon word thought to mean "cut off", as it is believed that the island was separated from a larger landmass by rising waters during the last ice age. Among its earliest inhabitants were the dark-skinned Ati people, one of several aboriginal Negrito ethnic groups dispersed throughout Asia that possess a unique culture.

Upon arriving on the island in April 1565, the Spanish colonisers called the land Negros after the black natives they observed. Two of the earliest native settlements, Binalbagan and Ilog, became towns in 1573 and 1584, respectively, while other settlements of the period included Hinigaran, Bago, Marayo (now Pontevedra), Mamalan (now Himamaylan), and Candaguit (a sitio of San Enrique). In 1572, King Philip II of Spain conferred the title of Marques de Buglas to the heirs of Juan Sebastián Elcano; the current Marquis is the 17th in line, and resides in Silay City, Negros Occidental.

After appointing encomenderos for the island, Miguel López de Legazpi placed Negros under the jurisdiction of the governor of Oton on Panay. In 1734, however, the island became a military district with Ilog as its first capital. The seat of government was later transferred to Himamaylan until Bacolod became the capital in 1849.

In 1890, the island was partitioned into the present-day provinces of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental. On 9 April 1901, the Second Philippine Commission under the chairmanship of William H. Taft arrived in Dumaguete. Weeks later on 1 May, the civil government under American sovereignty was established, and on 28 August, Dr. David S. Hibbard founded what is now Silliman University, with the help of the first Mayor Dumaguete, Meliton Larena, and The Hon. Demetrio Larena.

Short-Lived Independence

From 3 to 6 November 1898, the Negrense people rose in revolt against the local Spanish colonial government headed by politico-military governor Colonel Isidro de Castro. The Spaniards decided to surrender upon seeing armed troops marching in a pincer movement towards Bacolod. The revolutionaries, led by General Juan Araneta from Bago and General Aniceto Lacson from Talisay, bore fake arms consisting of rifles carved out of palm fronds and cannons of rolled bamboo mats painted black. By the afternoon of 6 November, Col. de Castro signed the Act of Capitulation, thus ending centuries of Spanish rule in Negros Occidental.

In memory of this event, every 5 November is observed as a special non-working holiday in the province through Republic Act № 6709 signed by President Corazon Aquino on 10 February 1989.

On 27 November 1898, the Cantonal Republic of Negros unilaterally proclaimed independence, but this was short-lived as the territory became a protectorate of the United States on 30 April 1899. The state was renamed the Republic of Negros (Spanish: República de Negros) on 22 July 1899, and eventually dissolved by the United States and annexed by the U.S. Military Government of the Philippine Islands on 30 April 1901.

Early Initiatives

The movement for a single-island region was started by the joint talks between former Governor Bitay Lacson and the late former Governor Emilio Macias after the EDSA People Power Revolution, from the period between 1986 to the end of their term in 1992. Their successors, former Governor Rafael Coscolluella and former Governor (now Representative) George Arnaiz took the initiative further, first identifying Kabankalan City in Negros Occidental and the neighboring Municipality of Mabinay in Negros Oriental as joint regional centers.

Updates

From the Department of Interior and Local Government

Secretary of Interior and Local Government Mar Roxas is scheduled to fly to Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental and travel to Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental today (April 21) to further assess the proposed creation of one Negros Island Region (NIR).

Roxas heads to Silliman University, Dumaguete City, for a multi-sectoral consultation on NIR with representatives from the academe, members of the local business chamber, different civil society organizations and non-government organizations.

Roxas will then proceed to Central Philippines State University, Kabankalan City, for an ocular inspection of the proposed site for the regional center.

The scheduled visit of Roxas came after officials and residents of both Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental reached a consensus for the two provinces to merge as a one island region in order to hasten development and speed up the delivery of services to its constituents.

Kabankalan City is among the strategic locations being considered to host the regional hub because of its viability and accessibility to both provinces, being situated near the boundary of Negros Oriental and Negros Occidental.

Kabankalan is home to developed communities with their own commercial and business districts, as well as schools, banks and other facilities needed to make a regional center function efficiently.

Negros Occidental currently belongs to Region 6 with its regional center based in Iloilo, while Negros Oriental is part of Region 7 with regional center situated in Cebu.

With the establishment of a regional hub at the center of NIR, people from Negros Oriental will no longer travel to Cebu to transact business with the national government, nor will the people from Negros Occidental travel to Iloilo to do the same.

Compared to other provinces in the Visayas, Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental have not been receiving notable public investments thus, leaving them behind the other provinces in Regions 6 and 7.

Thus, the creation of NIR is expected to improve the delivery of basic services to all Negrenses, increase public investments and boost the local economy of Negros Island.^[4]

References

Administrative divisions of the Philippines Capital Manila (National Capital Region) Island groups Luzon Visayas Mindanao Regions Administrative I – Ilocos region II – Cagayan Valley III – Central Luzon IV-A – CALABARZON IV-B – MIMAROPA V – Bicol region VI – Western Visayas VII – Central Visayas VIII – Eastern Visayas IX – Zamboanga Peninsula X – Northern Mindanao XI – Davao region XII – SOCCSKSARGEN XIII – Caraga CAR – Cordillera Administrative Region NCR – National Capital Region Autonomous Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Provinces Abra Agusan del Norte Agusan del Sur Aklan Albay Antique Apayao Aurora Basilan Bataan Batanes Batangas Benguet Biliran Bohol Bukidnon Bulacan Cagayan Camarines Norte Camarines Sur Camiguin Capiz Catanduanes Cavite Cebu Compostela Valley Cotabato Davao del Norte Davao del Sur Davao Occidental Davao Oriental Dinagat Islands Eastern Samar Guimaras Ifugao Ilocos Norte Ilocos Sur Iloilo Isabela Kalinga La Union Laguna Lanao del Norte Lanao del Sur Leyte Maguindanao Marinduque Masbate Misamis Occidental Misamis Oriental Mountain Province Negros Occidental Negros Oriental Northern Samar Nueva Ecija Nueva Vizcaya Occidental Mindoro Oriental Mindoro Palawan Pampanga Pangasinan Quezon Quirino Rizal Romblon Samar Sarangani Siquijor Sorsogon South Cotabato Southern Leyte Sultan Kudarat Sulu Surigao del Norte Surigao del Sur Tarlac Tawi-Tawi Zambales Zamboanga del Norte Zamboanga del Sur Zamboanga Sibugay Other subdivisions List of primary LGUs Legislative districts Cities Municipalities Barangays (by province) Poblacion Puroks Sitios Historical Former provinces Formally proposed provinces Formally proposed regions