A new law creating the Negros Island Region (NIR), RA 12000, was signed recently by the President. Before this, Negros Occidental was with Region 6, Western Visayas while Negros Oriental was with Region 7, Central Visayas.
Personally I wish that all regional offices are abolished, not creating new ones. A Negros Region means DTI regional office, DA, DAR, DENR, etc. regional office.
National government powers should be reduced so that provinces will have more leeway, have tax competition, peace and order competition, energy and infra competition among themselves to attract more investment and business locators.
National agencies are mostly bureaucratic, so regional offices were created to reduce the bureaucracies but the regions still must use one-size-fits-all regulations, from Aparri to Tawi Tawi same rules even if conditions are different.
The dream of meaningful decentralization is restricted if not killed by disabling provinces and cities to create regulations more appropriate for them like instilling peace and order competition, infra competition etc. Same regulations in taxation, infra, police functions, etc are applied by national agencies to all provinces.
A good example perhaps, cut the national top marginal income tax rate from 35% for those earning P2M/yr or more, to only 20%. Then provinces can impose provincial income tax.
So if I'm the Governor of Negros Occidental and my neighbor Negros Oriental has 15%, Iloilo has 13%, Cebu or Bohol have 17%, I will go for 7%, so rich people and businessmen in my province will only pay 27% top income tax rate. Another province may even go for zero provincial income tax.
That's tax competition among provinces but natl govt must step back in its national tax rate.
Meanwhile, here is an example of tax competition among countries, in the case of consumption tax (VAT, sales tax,...)
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