Yes or No to NIR?

I was surprised to see the headline in our Oriental page yesterday where Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo denied saying “yes” to the creation of the Negros Island Region, as stated in our headlines last Wednesday.

In the previous day's story, Negros Occidental Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr. was quoted as saying that Degamo finally agreed to the one island, one region concept, a move that he has been opposing from the start.

The message was relayed by Freddie to the media upon his arrival from Dumaguete where he personally handed Degamo's invitation to attend the presidential visit yesterday.

Freddie even went as far as saying that Degamo has never really been against the proposal but had a lot of apprehensions that the Oriental side, smaller as it is than the Occidental side, may get very little in terms of resources and projects from the national government.

Freddie said the Oriental governor seemed agreeable to the 60-40 sharing in the IRA, the bulk of which will go to our province, rightfully so, since we are bigger in terms of land area, population and even in revenue generation.

In a very magnanimous gesture, Freddie even offered Degamo the initial chairmanship of the Regional Development Council, this despite the fact that it was Freddie who has been lobbying for this concept ever since. The offer was clearly to show Degamo he can trust the other side of the island and that our governor is transparent in terms of equitable sharing of programs.

And now, Degamo tells reporters he never said yes with finality but “remains open” to the idea for as long as issues he raised will be met and answered. And that whoever quoted him as having said yes was just “excited.”

Without saying it, Degamo meant Freddie, for it was the latter that broke the news to the media. So which is which really?

I would understand Freddie getting “excited” about the matter since it can become his legacy but I doubt that Freddie would just announce something that has not been uttered just because it is to his liking.

Freddie is known not to mince words and has been forthright in his responses regardless of its implications and I doubt very much he will twist the story to suit him.

My take on this, though I may be wrong as well, was that Degamo in effect did say something that made Freddie construe it as a yes or perhaps did say yes but changed his mind overnight and had to deny Freddie's claims maybe because of possible backlash from groups opposing the move.

Whatever it is, I hope Degamo and Freddie will sit down again together and thresh the concerns and then issue a joint statement whether both agree or agreed to disagree so as not to give conflicting statements.

The supposed yes of Degamo was met by applause, both in the public and private sectors and I am sure some are already working towards the realization of the NIR with that signal. Now, it will again be put on hold until things are straightened out or perhaps when the Oriental side elects a new governor that is favorable 100 percent to the idea.

With the President in town and with a lot of people hoping he would issue a statement supporting the NIR, the recent news from Degamo might alter any announcements we were hoping to hear to this effect.

As of this writing, I am not sure whether the President has made any reference to the NIR, but if he doesn't, I think one of the major reasons was Degamo's hesitation, to say the least, to the idea of a single region for our island.

The President would clearly not make any favorable statement knowing that the other half remains closed to the issue despite saying he remains open.

Degamo should take lessons from Freddie. Call a spade a spade. There is no grey, in between. It's either you are a yes or a no. If there are concerns that need to be addressed, lay it down on the table so those in favor of it can allay your fears and if after which you are still not convinced, then oppose the idea with justification.

One of the issues raised was the language barrier, oriental being bisaya-speaking, while most of occidental speak in Hiligaynon. In Degamo and Freddie's case, I don't think the “yes” got lost in translation, I think overnight, something happened for Degamo to deny what he initially said.*

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