BACOLOD CITY鈥擳he Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) on Monday closed its regional office in the Negros Island Region (NIR), ending the existence of the NIR composed of the provinces of Negros Oriental and Negros Occidental.
The Dole was among the last NIR offices to shut down following the region鈥檚 dissolution in August.
In rites held here, Exequiel Sarcauga, Dole NIR director, turned over the Dole Negros Occidental office to Johnson Ca帽ete, director for Western Visayas, and its Negros Oriental office to Cyril Tica, director for Central Visayas.
Ca帽ete and Ticao said all Dole personnel in the NIR returned to their mother units in Western Visayas and Central Visayas.
鈥淭oday, we bid the NIR as a region goodbye but all is not lost in our efforts to unify the two Negros provinces as one region,鈥� Negros Occidental Gov. Alfredo Mara帽on Jr. said.
The NIR was created on May 29, 2015 through Executive Order No. 183 issued by then President Benigno Aquino III. On Aug. 9 this year, President Duterte signed Executive Order No. 38, dissolving the NIR. The NIR regional offices were given 60 days to shut down.
鈥淎s we return to our respective regional groups, this should not stop us to continue our synergy in pursuit of a more progressive, more dynamic Negros Island economy that will redound to better lives,鈥� Mara帽on said.
鈥淥ur sincere thanks as well to the political leaders of both [Negros] Oriental and Occidental, who, despite the initial odds, made the unification of Negrenses happen,鈥� he said.
Negros officials are now pushing for the two provinces be reunited under a single state with the shift toward a federal form of government. 鈥�CARLA P. GOMEZ