(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte has issued an executive order revoking the creation of the Negros Island.
On Aug. 7, Duterte signed Executive Order 38 that essentially revoked former President Benigno Aquino III’s Executive Order 183, which allowed for the integration of the provinces of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental into the Negros Island Region.
Aquino, who signed EO 183 on May 29, 2015, ordered the formation of the NIR reportedly “to improve the delivery of public services” in the two provinces.
But Duterte, through EO 38, said that the “establishment of regional offices (RO) of departments and agencies in the NIR requires substantial appropriation to be fully operational, thus competing with government priority programs and projects for funding.”
“There is a need to ensure that priority government programs and projects are sufficiently funded,” he said.
As such, Duterte ordered that the provinces of Negros Oriental and Negros Occidental revert to Regions VII and VI, respectively.
He directed regional councils (RC) and offices (RO) to return to their previous units of deployment, or to be reassigned to other offices.
“The (Department of the Interior and Local Government) may, as necessary, issue guidelines for the reversion of the NIR and abolition of the RCs and ROs,” he said.