Bacolod City – Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson over-the-weekend said that he will endorse Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez as the Regional Development Council (RDC) chairperson of the newly established Negros Island Region.
Lacson, in a radio interview, made the endorsement as he pushed for the establishment of the Negros Island Region RDC.
The NIR, which was created through Republic Act No. 12000, signed into law on Thursday by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., is composed of Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental and Siquijor.
Benitez is presently the RDC chairman of Western Visayas.
Negros Occidental 3rd district Rep. Jose Francisco Benitez, brother of the Bacolod Mayor, called on the Department of Interior and Local Government to immediately convene the Technical Working Group (TWG) to iron out the institutional arrangements for the transition.
Mayor Benitez and the three governors of Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, and Siquijor are among members of the TWG. (Gilbert Bayoran via The Visayan Daily Star)