by Paulo Loreto Lim and Anna L. Golez on October 14, 2016

In his State of the District Address yesterday at the Silay City Civic Center, Rep. Alfredo Benitez (3rd District) expressed his belief that President Rodrigo Duterte is planning to suspend NIR until the country shifts to a federal system, where the government can push through with “full implementation.”

It was recently revealed by Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Benjamin Diokno that an executive order to dissolve NIR is currently awaiting the president’s signature.

Benitez affirmed, even if there is dissolution of the region, there will still be an influx of projects for the island.

“If there is no regional center, it does not mean there will be no more projects,” he said. “Especially for infrastructure.”

He also responded to critics who said the reason many local politicians joined the ruling PDP-Laban party was to ensure NIR’s existence, saying joining a party is different from forcing them to give into demands.

Recently, PDP-Laban NIR Secretary-General Yves Akol said Executive Order 183, which created NIR and was signed by former President Benigno S. Aquino III, was flawed since, based on the order, the region was only subject to the availability of funds. Diokno cited the reason for the region’s dissolution was because of “budget constraints.”

Benitez also took the time to introduce “IHELP,” which stands for infrastructure, health, education, livelihood, and policy.

As part of the district’s infrastructure projects, he included new, standardized two-storey barangay or multi-purpose halls, turning the two-lane highway running through the district into four lanes, and establishing a Silay Tourism Route.

Benitez said he is also looking into upgrading technology in schools and projects. By 2020, 93,000 households will be fully covered by the Negros Occidental Comprehensive Health Program (NOCHP). There are currently 52,000 covered by the program.

He also vowed P10,000 in automatic assistance to “uplift the lives of every family.”

As for policy, he focused on the sugar industry, saying he wishes for production level to be “as it used to be,” which was P70,000 to P80,000 worth of sugar per hectare.
“Sugar is not what is important to us,” said Benitez. “What is important to us is sugarcane where most of our farmers derive their livelihood [from].”/WDJ