Negros Island
Negros Island is shaped like a boot. NEGROS ORIENTAL is the smaller province, at 5,402 sq kms. It occupies the southeast, or the area towards the toe of this boot. Mountain ranges rising south to north parallel to the coastline give the island a backbone and form a natural demarcation line which, in 1890, determined the boundary between the two provinces. In most places this boundary has been almost impassable. One of the most important current projects of the Province is the Negros Transcentral Highway, spanning the interior from south to north, supplemented by an extensive network of roads which, when completed, will stitch up the highlands and the lowlands and facilitate transportation everywhere in Negros Oriental and into the neighboring Province.
The Province is now referred to as ORIENTAL NEGROS.
The Province is now referred to as ORIENTAL NEGROS.
- TOURISM The expansion of roads is opening up access to many of the Province’s major tourist attractions including the Twin Lakes Balinsasayao and Danao in Sibulan, and the Mabinay Caves. Undergoing implementation are concreting of road to the Fil-Am-Jap Amity Shrine in Sagbang, Valencia; construction of visitor facilities for the Twin Lakes consisting of an administration building and a parking lot; and a reception building, perimeter security fences and boardwalks for three Mabinay Caves.
- INFRASTRUCTURE The Provincial Government’s most salient contributions to provincial infrastructure development are the Congressman Lamberto L Macias Sports and Cultural Center (CLLMSCC) and the Lorenzo G Teves Memorial Aqua Center, more popularly known as the Aquacenter.
- SOCIAL SERVICES Negros Oriental is one of the few pioneer Provinces involved in the UNICEF’s Fifth Country Program for Children that has rapidly expanded to reach all its component cities and municipalities. It has a Council for Children, and a Commission on Women to implement the provisions of the Province’s landmark Codes on Gender and Developrment, and for the Welfare of Children.
- ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Negros Oriental also has a landmark Investment Code, the provisions of which are now implemented by the Investment Promotions Center, a government-and-private-sector run office inside the Provincial Planning and Development Office.
- HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT The present administration has instituted a program wherein all employees of the Provincial Government gather every Monday morning at the Aquino Freedom Park for prayer, flag-raising ceremonies, and the singing of the Provincial Hymn. Every 1st Monday a guest is invited to speak on relevant topics.
- ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION AND MANAGEMENT The Provincial Government supports the Clean and Green Program of the national government and has initiated its own Wildlife Protection and Conservation Program.
Aside from infrastructure support for tourism sites, the Provincial Government has been initiating special events of touristic value such as the Negros Oriental Buglasan Festival every October and the Annual Pinaskuhan Sayawit and parol Competitions in December; and has supported the Tawo-Tawo Festival of Bayawan City, the Yagyag Festival of Cangmating in Sibulan, and the Sandurot Festival of Dumaguete City, among others. In the last 14 months the Province has also hosted the Annual Bear Brand Kitefest, the National Motocross, two PBA out-of-town basketball games, the Poker Run of international bikers; and the Central Visayas Regional Athletic Games.
In the 13th Philippine Travel Mart held last November 2002 at the SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City, the Negros Oriental booth presentation won Second Best Booth in the country’s biggest tourism exposition which was participated in by almost 400 LGUs, resorts, tour establishments and facilities, and industry-related corporations.
In the 2004 National Streetdancing Championship in Manila, the Yag-yag Festival of Barangay Cangmating, Sibulan, won the Championship.
The CLLMSCC is the Province’s biggest roofed sports stadium, biggest performance venue, and biggest covered space for public assemblies. Its wood court was built to PBA standards, and is considered the finest of its kind outside Manila. The CLLMSCC is the first structure of its kind and size in the Province
where pre-cast concrete elements were extensively used. Its complicated roof framework in the longest span in the whole of Region VII. For theatrical performances, special theater lighting was installed under the supervision of technicians of the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Total seating capacity is 5,000.
The Aquacenter’s main feature is a swimming pool built to Olympic standards, with eight (8) lanes fed by water from a filter system, and roofed bleachers with a combined seating capacity of 1,775 . The building is a complex that also houses showers and comfort rooms, dormitories, six airconditioned guest rooms, a lounge for conferences, a well-equipped gymnasium; and the offices of the Provincial Sports Coordinator, the Negros Oriental Search and Rescue Auxiliary, the Community Primary Hospitals Coordinator, the Provincial Tourism Office; and the Board Members of the First, Second and Third Districts.
The Provincial Government has also constructed a Diagnostic Center in the Negros Oriental Provincial Hospital to serve the Province and parts of the region as well as Mindanao.
It has also constructed and operationalized a Drug Rehabilitation Center in Talay.
The hinterland catchment area of Tamlang has been developed as a major resettlement area. The Tamlang Project comprises housing, schoolbuildings and church, health center, recreation areas, agro-forestry, upland farms and fishery, and wildlife refuge.
Heads of Offices and selected employees are regularly sent to seminars, workshops and conferences for upgrading of competence and skills.
