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, Executive Order (EO) No. 183 (s.2015) created the Negros Island Region (NIR) to be composed of the cities, municipalities and barangays comprising the provinces of Negros Occidental and negros Oriental;

WHEREAS, there is a need to ensure that priority government programs and projects are sufficiently funded;

WHEREAS, establishment of regional offices (ROs) of departments and agencies in the NIR requires substantial appropriation to be fully operational, thus competing with government priority programs and projects for funding;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, RODRIGO ROA DUTERTE, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution and existing laws, do hereby order:

SECTION 1. Revocation of EO No. 183. EO No. 183 creating the NIR is hereby revoked. The provinces of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental shall revert to Region VI and Region VII, respectively.

SECTION 2. Abolition of the NIR Regional Offices (ROs) and Regional Councils (RCs). RCs established by EO No. 183 and ROs created pursuant to Memorandum Circular No. 81 (s. 2015) are hereby abolished. All existing personnel of the NIR ROs shall return to their previous units of deployment, or reassigned to other offices within their respective departments/agencies.

The winding up of the operations of the NIR ROs, as well as the final disposition (e.g., transfer or abolition) of their functions, positions, personnel, assets and liabilities, shall be done immediately and completed not later than sixty (60) days from the effectivity of this Order.

SECTION 3. Supervision by the Department of the Interior and Local Government. The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) is hereby directed to supervise the reversion of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental provinces to Regions VI and VII, respectively. The DILG may, as necessary, issue guidelines for the reversion of the NIR and abolition of the RCs and ROs.

SECTION 4. Role of Other Government Agencies. All other departments, bureaus, offices, agencies, and instrumentalities of the national goverment, including government-owned or- controlled corporations and government financial institutions, are hereby directed to extend their full assistance to the DILG in the reversion process.

SECTION 5. Repealing Clause. All orders, proclamations rules, regulations, and issuances or parts thereof inconsistent with the provisions of this Order are hereby repealed, amended, or modified accordingly.

SECTION 6. Separability Clause. If any section or part of this Order is held unconstitutional or invalid, the other sections or provisions not otherwise affected shall remain in full force or effect.

SECTION 7. Effectivity. This Order shall take effect upon publication in a newspaper of general circulation.

DONE, in the City of Manila, this 7th day of August, in the year of Our Lord Two Thousand and Seventeen.

(SGD.) RODRIGO ROA DUTERTE
 

By the President:

(SGD.) SALVADOR C. MEDIALDEA
Executive Secretary