by Miriam G. Desacada
Tacloban City–House Minority Leader Marcelino “Nonoy” Libanan recently filed a bill creating a new region, the Samar Island Region, separating the island from the current Eastern Visayas region where its neighboring islands of Leyte and Biliran and Southern Leyte province are located.
In his House Bill 10727, Libanan proposed that the three provinces of Northern Samar, Eastern Samar, and (western) Samar, including their cities, towns, and barangays to constitute the new Samar Island Region (SIR).
Libanan’s vision is to decentralize and boost up the delivery of essential national government services to some of the least developed provinces in the country.
“Our measure, once enacted, will expedite the dispensing of national government services to the communities of the three Samar provinces,” said Libanan, who is currently 4Ps party-list representative.
Once formed, the SIR would become the country’s 19th administrative region, which in turn will have its own dedicated Regional Development Council that focuses on economic growth and development for that particular region, Libanan added.
Last June, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed Republic Act. No. 12000, which set up the Negros Island Region (NIR) as the country’s 18th administrative region.
A new region means that all national government line departments, such as health, education, and social services, among others, would have to put up new regional offices for that particular region.
Libanan’s bill however did not yet specify the congressional seat of the SIR, but he asked for the creation of a technical working group (TWG) that will in turn recommend to the Office of the President where to put up the site of the regional center.
The TWG would be composed of representatives from Malacañang, the Department of Budget and Management, Department of the Interior and Local Government, the governor’s offices of the three Samar provinces, and all elected congressional district representatives.
Libanan represented Eastern Samar’s lone congressional district for nine years from 1998 to 2007, and served once as vice governor of that province, besides being a commissioner of the Bureau of Immigration from 2007 to 2010.
At present, the country’s 18 administrative regions are: the National Capital Region (NCR); Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR); Ilocos Region (Region I); Cagayan Valley (Region II); Central Luzon (Region III); Calabarzon (Region IV‑A); Southwestern Tagalog Region (MIMAROPA); Bicol Region (Region V);
Western Visayas (Region VI); Negros Island Region (NIR); Central Visayas (Region VII); Eastern Visayas (Region VIII);
Zamboanga Peninsula (Region IX); Northern Mindanao (Region X); Davao Region (Region XI); Soccsksargen (Region XII); Caraga (Region XIII); and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). —Miriam G. Desacada