“Nonoy” Libanan
TACLOBAN CITY – House of Representatives Minority Leader Marcelino “Nonoy” Libanan of the 4Ps party-list group has introduced a bill aiming to establish a new Samar Island Region (SIR) to decentralize and improve the delivery of essential national government services to some of the country’s least developed provinces.
House Bill No. 10727, filed by Libanan on August 6, proposes that the provinces of Northern Samar, Samar, and Eastern Samar, along with their cities, municipalities, and barangays, form the new SIR.
“Our measure, once enacted, will expedite the dispensing of national government services to the communities of the three Samar provinces,” Libanan stated.
“They will also have their own highly focused Regional Development Council (RDC) to drive economic growth and job creation,” he added.
Libanan, who represented Eastern Samar’s lone congressional district from 1998 to 2007 and served as provincial vice governor, is currently a representative of the 4Ps party-list group.
Once established, the SIR would become the country’s 19th administrative region.
In June, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed Republic Act No. 12000, which created the Negros Island Region (NIR) as the country’s 18th administrative region.
A new region would require all national government line departments, such as health, education, and social services, to set up new regional offices.
Libanan’s bill does not specify the seat of the SIR but provides for the creation of a technical working group (TWG) to recommend the preferred site of the regional center to the Office of the President.
The TWG would include representatives from Malacañang, the Department of Budget and Management, the Department of the Interior and Local Government, the governor’s offices of the three Samar provinces, and all elected congressional district representatives.
Currently, the three Samar provinces are part of Eastern Visayas (Region VIII), which also includes the provinces of Biliran, Leyte, and Southern Leyte with Tacloban City as the regional center.
(LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)
