House leader pushes creation of new Samar Island Region

House Minority Leader Marcelino “Nonoy” Libanan has introduced a bill seeking the establishment of the Samar Island Region, aiming to decentralize governance and enhance the delivery of essential government services to some of the most underdeveloped provinces in the country.

House Bill No. 10727, authored by Libanan, proposes that the provinces of Northern Samar, Samar, and Eastern Samar, along with their cities, municipalities, and barangays, form the new Samar Island Region.

This would make it the country’s 19th administrative region after Negros Island Region.

“Our measure, once enacted, will expedite the dispensing of national government services to the communities of the three Samar provinces,” Libanan said. “They will also have their own highly focused Regional Development Council (RDC) to drive economic growth and job creation.”

Libanan, who served as Eastern Samar’s lone district representative for nine years and once held the position of provincial vice governor, is currently a 4Ps party-list representative.

He believes that the creation of a separate region will better address the unique needs of Samar’s provinces.

The bill comes on the heels of the recent establishment of the Negros Island Region (NIR) as the country’s 18th administrative region, following the signing of Republic Act No. 12000 by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in June.

Should the Samar Island Region be established, all national government line departments—such as those for health, education, and social services—would need to set up new regional offices within the region.

The bill, however, does not specify the location of the regional center, instead proposing the formation of a Technical Working Group (TWG) to recommend the site to the Office of the President.

The TWG would include representatives from Malacañang, the Department of Budget and Management, the Department of the Interior and Local Government, the governor’s offices of the three Samar provinces, and all elected congressional district representatives from these provinces.

Currently, the three Samar provinces are part of Eastern Visayas (Region VIII), which also includes Biliran, Leyte, and Southern Leyte.

The creation of the Samar Island Region would necessitate adjustments in the governance and administrative structure of Eastern Visayas.