Bacolod City: The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) have conducted site inspections for their respective Negros Island Region (NIR) regional offices in this highly-urbanized city.
According to Philippines News Agency, the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOCPPO) reported that the proposed location of the Police Regional Office-(PRO-NIR) Regional Finance Service Unit (RFSU) inside Camp Alfredo M. Montelibano Sr. underwent assessment during the visit of the concerned officials on February 12. The former Area Police Command Visayas building has been identified as the site, inspected by PNP Finance Service Chief of Staff Col. Dennis Artil and RFSU-Western Visayas (Region 6) Chief Col. Paul Jady Doles, along with NOCPPO Director Col. Rainerio De Chavez.
'The site visit is part of the ongoing evaluation process to ensure that the office space will meet the requirements necessary for the efficient functioning of RFSU and contribute to the overall improvement of PNP services in the area,' the NOCPPO stated. De Chavez mentioned that preparations are underway for the PRO-NIR headquarters, which will be temporarily housed inside the same camp. However, no definite launch date has been set for the official opening of PRO-NIR.
Meanwhile, the DBM is also establishing its NIR regional office inside the Carlos Hilado Memorial State University (CHMSU) Alijis campus in Bacolod City. A team led by Assistant Director Philip Jeffrey David of the Local Government and Regional Coordination Bureau conducted an ocular inspection on February 13. Undersecretary Wilford Will Wong, head of the Local Government and Regional Operations Group, is scheduled for a site visit.
In a statement, CHMSU president Norberto Mangulabnan expressed that he sought approval from the CHMSU Board of Regents to allocate a budget for the DBM regional office at the Alijis Campus. The campus also hosts the National Economic and Development Authority-NIR office, which was inaugurated on February 6 following a usufruct agreement between Mangulabnan and NEDA-NIR officer-in-charge Regional Director Arecio Casing Jr., witnessed by NEDA Undersecretary Carlos Bernardo Abad Santos.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. signed Republic Act 12000 or the NIR Act into law in June last year, creating a new administrative region comprising the provinces of Negros Occidental, including Bacolod City, Negros Oriental, and Siquijor. The NIR Act separates Negros Occidental and Bacolod City from Western Visayas, and Negros Oriental and Siquijor from Central Visayas.
