Published September 24, 2018, 9:25 PM
By Ben Rosario

Political leaders in the Visayas last week formed a coalition that will represent their scattered localities in order to press government for an equitable share of funding and resources to boost the region’s economy.

Backed by the Visayas Bloc in the House of Representatives, One Visayas was formally organized with ten provincial governors declaring active participation in the group.

“At least 16 governors are embracing the One Visayas concept to create economic cooperation and promote the development of the three regions of the Visayas,” said Negros Occidental Rep. Albee Benitez, co-convenor of the Visayan Bloc.

No politics

Benitez said the group has not embraced any political ideology except to work together to united the dispersed islands of Western, Central and Eastern Visayas.

“We just agreed to have one vision and one voice to promote the progress and development of the Visayas islands,” he explained during the weekly press conference in the Lower House.

Equitable budget

Benitez, chairman of the House Committee on Housing and Urban Development, noted that while Visayas contribute over 50 percent of the country’s profit from tourism, the three regions has been getting lower than 20 percent of the budget for tourism infrastructure and development in the past several years.

Federalism and regional growth

The senior administration lawmaker said One Visayas is also united in pushing the concept of federalism “because we want to empower regional centers” while waiting for the final shift of government system to federalism.

Consolidation challenge

Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone said consolidating the political forces of Visayas poses the biggest challenge to organizers of One Visayas.

“If you notice, Visayas is composed of several islands. The challenge is how to integrate our resources in order to achieve economic development and self-sufficiency,” Evardone explained.

Linking investors

According to Benitez, a priority is to link investors in the islands with a higher degree of efficiency and greaer scale of marketability.

“We are now putting up a digital highway to promote development through the combination of our resources,” he said.

Bridge projects

The Negros Occidental lawmaker added that leaders are also pushing for the swift implementation of the Panay-Guimaras-Negros bridgem project.

The 14.3 kilometer Panay-Guimaras link may be completed by 2021 if construction will commence this year, said Benitez.

On the other hand, Evardone said there is a strong likelihood that the Guimaras-Negros bridge, spanning 5.7 kilometers, will be started before the end of the term of President Duterte.