Lawyer Francisco Pobe, Comelec-7 officer-in-charge regional election director, says Central Visayas or Region 7 is still a vote-rich province despite it now only made up of Cebu and Bohol with Negros Oriental and Siquijor now being part of the Negros Island Region. | Mary Rose Sagarino
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Region 7 is now only made up of Cebu and Bohol, Negros Occidental and Siquijor are now part of Negros Island Region
MANDAUE CITY, Philippines — Central Visayas or Region 7 continues to be a vote-rich region despite the separation of the provinces of Negros Oriental and Siquijor.
Lawyer Francisco Pobe, the officer-in-charge (OIC) regional election director of the Commission on Elections in Central Visayas (Comelec-7), on Tuesday, October 2, said that the records of the detached provinces of Negros Oriental and Siquijor had been transferred to the Negros Island Region Comelec Office based in Dumaguete City.
The records of the central file had also been already segregated, Pobe said.
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Despite, the separation of the two provinces from Central Visayas, the election director said that Region 7 continues to be a vote-rich region.
“It’s still a vote rich region…Kami na ang pinakagamay nga region kay duha nalang mi kaprobinsiya, ang uban tag tulo, taglima but as to the voting population dako gihapon ang Central Visayas,” said Pobe.
(It is still a vote-rich region…we may be the smallest region because now we are made up of only two provinces, other regions have three [provinces],others five [provinces], but as to the voting population Central Visayas is still a big region.)
Based on Comelec-7 data last September 28, the number of registered voters in Central Visayas is 4.7 million with Cebu having around 3.4 million voters and Bohol with over a million.
During the last 2023 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections, Negros Oriental had a total of registered voters of over 968,874while Siquijor had 80,214 registered voters.
Republic Act No. 12000, also known as the “Negros Island Region Act,” was signed into law by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. in June 2024, establishing the Negros Island Region (NIR). The region comprises the provinces of Negros Occidental, including Negros Oriental, Siquijor, and Bacolod City.