The Department of Education (DepEd) is pushing for a PHP40-million budget for the Negros Island Region (NIR) next year. Panontongan said DepEd-NIR was still in the process of transitioning at the time the 2025 budget was being finalized. The NIR comprises the provinces of Negros Occidental, formerly attached to Western Visayas, and Negros Oriental and Siquijor, which were then part of Central Visayas. Panontongan said the DepEd-NIR budget will be about the same as the DepEd offices in Central and Western Visayas. Some 2,000 DepEd officials, teachers, and staff from Central, Western and Eastern Visayas, and NIR attended the celebration.