President Rodrigo Duterte intends to abolish the Negros Island Region (NIR) created under the Aquino administration because keeping it would be too costly, a Cabinet official said Tuesday. Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said Duterte made the decision to cancel the NIR their latest Cabinet meeting. He said no budget was allotted for the NIR in the 2016 or 2017 General Appropriations Act (GAA). “You don’t want to spend P19 billion for such two provinces in one region. In any event, with the Charter change to federalism, the region will not be created.

Source: Manila Times October 11, 2016 11:48 UTC