WHEREAS, Article X, Section 4 of the Constitution provides that the President shall exercise general supervision over local government units;

WHEREAS, the administrative regions were established to promote efficiency in the Government, accelerate social and economic development and improve public services;

WHEREAS, Article X, Section 14 of the Constitution requires the President to provide for regional development councils or other similar bodies for purposes of administrative decentralization to strengthen the autonomy of units therein; and

WHEREAS, there is a need to further accelerate the social and economic development of the cities and municipalities comprising the provinces of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental and improve the delivery of public services in the aforementioned provinces;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BENIGNO S. AQUINO III, President of the Republic of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution and existing laws, do hereby order:

SECTION 1. Negros Island Region. The Negros Island Region (NIR) is hereby created. The NIR shall be composed of the following provinces, including the cities, municipalities, and barangays comprising the provinces:

1. Negros Oriental; and
2. Negros Occidental.

SECTION 2. Negros Island Region Technical Working Group (NIR-TWG). A Negros Island Technical Working Group, composed of the Office of the President (OP), the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), and the representatives of the Provinces of Negros Oriental and Negros Occidental, is hereby constituted to form a Technical Working Group (TWG).

The TWG will formulate a Roadmap to put in place the institutional arrangements for the NIR by 2015-2016; recommend to the OP the preferred Regional Center; arrange the requirements for organizational development, staffing, and budgeting of regional line and regulatory agencies, as well as the imperatives for development planning and investment programming.

SECTION 3. Regional Councils. Notwithstanding the activities of the NIR-TWG, the following Regional Councils are hereby constituted and the following government agencies are hereby designated as the interim secretariats:

1. Negros Island Development Council - NEDA Secretariat;
2. Negros Island Peace and Order Council - DILG as Secretariat; and
3. Negros Island DRRM Council - Office of Civil Defense (OCD) as Secretariat.

SECTION 4. Funding. The funding for NIR-TWG shall be sourced from the implementing agencies of the NIR-TWG and the provinces making up the NIR, subject to the availability of funds and upon compliance with all existing applicable laws and budgetary, accounting, and auditing rules and regulations.

SECTION 5. Role of Government Agencies. All departments, bureaus, offices, agencies, and instrumentalities of the national government, including government-owned or -controlled corporations and government financial institutions, are hereby directed to extend their full assistance to the NIR-TWG in support of its functions and activities.

SECTION 6. Repealing. All orders, issuances, rules and regulations or parts thereof which are inconsistent with the provisions of this Order are hereby repealed, amended, or modified accordingly.

SECTION 7. Separability. If any provision of this Order is declared invalid or unconstitutional, the other provisions unaffected thereby shall remain valid and subsisting.

SECTION 8. Effectivity. This Order shall take effect immediately upon its publication in a newspaper of general circulation.

DONE, in the City of Manila, this 29th day of May, in the year of our Lord Two Thousand and Fifteen.

(SGD.) BENIGNO S. AQUINO III

By the President:

(SGD.) PAQUITO N. OCHOA, JR.
Executive Secretary