Negros Occidental Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr. said yesterday that if Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo does not want the creation of the one-Negros Island region, it could delay its take-off.

Marañon was reacting to a report, quoting Degamo as saying, that 70 percent of the residents of Negros Oriental are against the island region plan.

He does not believe most of the people of Negros Oriental are against the island-region proposal because, except for Degamo, the majority of Negros Oriental officials, who attended two meetings on the island region held in Negros Occidental, said they are for it, Marañon said.

Degamo’s statement is very “conflicting”, Marañon  said, noting that the Negros Oriental congressmen, vice governor, the majority of the provincial board, mayors and barangay leaders have aired their support for the move.

Marañon also said the proposal for a Negros Island region   made by Oriental and Occidental officials as far back as 20 years ago, is not a new idea,  and it is not about politics.

Recent meetings on the island region proposal were held to get a consensus so a technical working group could be created to conduct a study on the plan, he said.

He said opposition by Degamo, being the governor of Negros Oriental, would delay the plan, which he called  politically motivated.

Asked if a meeting on the island region would push through in Dumaguete City, Marañon said that if Degamo does not want it, it will not be held.

Degamo said he respects the opinion  of  Marañon, but wanting a feasibility study is not being political, it is being realistic.

He is not against the island region proposal, he has no stand on it yet, Degamo said.

What he was referring to was not his opinion when he said the majority are against the island region proposal, he was citing a Dumaguete radio program - Tug-anan sa Power 91 hosted by Romy Amarado - survey that showed that 73 of those of those who called in and sent text messages were against it and only about 40 plus were for the move.

He wants to make sure that the island region plan will uplift the lives of the people of Negros Oriental, Degamo said.

An engineer by profession, Degamo said he wants to see the data first, he does not want to gamble the future of the people of Negros Oriental.

As it is, he is happy with Negros Oriental being part of Central Visayas, noting that the economy and tourism in his province has grown in the last two years, Degamo said.

He said the Central Visayas Regional Development Council is  supportive of Negros Oriental, in fact, in the last RDC meeting in Bohol, they waited for him to get there before the meeting started.

Degamo also noted that the creation of an island region will not mean the Internal Revenue Allotment share of both provinces will increase, it will be the same as under the present set-up.

Bohol Governor Edgardo  Chatto, Central Visayas RDC chair, informed him that the RDC will have to study whether it will agree to release Negros Oriental from the Central Visayas aggrupation, he added.*CPG

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