Another priority measure of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. has hurdled the committee level in the House of Representatives.
This, after the House Committee on Local Government chaired by Valenzuela City 1st district Rep. Rex Gatchalian approved on Tuesday, Jan. 10 the substitute bill that would establish the proposed Negros Island Region (NIR).
The measure is one of the 12 remaining priority measures of the Marcos administration, as listed in the Common Legislative Agenda (CLA) of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC).
The proposed NIR would include the provinces of Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, Siquijor, Bacolod City, and all the cities, municipalities and barangays therein.
The still-unnumbered bill was approved during a virtual hearing of the Gatchalian panel.
The approved measure substituted House Bill (HB) No.119 by Rep. Juliet Marie de Leon Ferrer (4th district, Negros Occidental); HB No.330 by Rep. Alfredo Maranon III (2nd district, Negros Occidental); and HB No.1446 by Rep. Jose Francisco Benitez (3rd district, Negros Occidental), Rep. Joseph Stephen Paduano (Party-list, ABANG LINGKOD), Rep. Gerardo Valmayor, Jr. (1st district, Negros Occidental), Rep. Emilio Bernardino Yulo (5th district, Negros Occidental), Rep. Mercedes Alvarez (6th district, Negros Occidental), and Rep. Greg Gasataya (lone district, Bacolod City).
The local government panel also approved the substitute bill which would create mandatory positions of human resource management officers for municipalities, cities and provinces, as well as business permit and licensing officers for municipalities and cities, prescribing their qualifications and defining their powers and duties.
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The measure would amend for the purpose Republic Act (RA) No.7160, also known as the Local Government Code of 1991.
House Speaker Martin Romualdez earlier vowed to approve the 12 remaining Marcos priority bills this year.
Last year, the House passed 19 priority bills of the administration.