Republic Act No. 12000, also known as the "Negros Island Region Act," which was passed into law on 11 June 2024, mandates the establishment of the Negros Island Region (NIR). The region comprises the provinces of Negros Occidental, including the City of Bacolod, Negros Oriental, and Siquijor, along with their respective cities, municipalities, and barangays.
The creation of the NIR brings the total number of regions in the Philippines to 18. This adjustment also affects the composition of Region VI (Western Visayas) and Region VII (Central Visayas), resulting in five provinces and one highly urbanized city (HUC) in Western Visayas, and two provinces and three HUCs in Central Visayas. The updated compositions of Western and Central Visayas at the provincial and HUC levels are as follows:
| Region | Composition | |
| Province | HUC | |
| Region VI (Western Visayas) | Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, and Iloilo | City of Iloilo |
| Region VII (Central Visayas) | Bohol and Cebu | City of Cebu, City of Lapu-Lapu, and City of Mandaue |
The NIR was originally created through Executive Order (EO) No. 183 in 2015, comprising Negros Occidental, including the City of Bacolod, and Negros Oriental. However, it was abolished in 2017 by EO No. 38.
Additionally, the NIR assumes the region code "18," which was previously assigned to it in 2015. All provinces, cities, municipalities, and barangays within the NIR will retain their existing geographic codes, except that their region code will now be "18."
Further, the names of two barangays in the Philippine Standard Geographic Code (PSGC) masterlist were corrected based on the recommendation of the interagency TWGGC. The details of the updates are as follows:
| Correct Name | Old Name | Legal Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Meytegued | 1. Certification signed by Municipal Mayor dated 12 February 2024; 2. Copy of the official review by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) dated 03 June 2024. |
| Maragondong | 1. Certification signed by Municipal Mayor dated 14 December 2023; 2. Copy of the official review by the NHCP dated 03 June 2024. |
With all the aforementioned updates in the PSGC, the latest number of local government units is shown in the table below:
| Geographic Level | Total Number (as of 30 June 2024) |
| Region | 18 |
| Province | 82 |
| Highly Urbanized City (HUC) | 33 |
Other Cities
| 116 5 111 |
| Municipality | 1,493 |
| Barangay | 42,004 |
You can access and download the updated masterlist at https://psa.gov.ph/classification/psgc/.
The compilation and updating of the PSGC is a collaborative effort between the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) and its interagency TWGGC, which includes the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), Department of Budget and Management (DBM), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Land Management Bureau (LMB), Land Registration Authority (LRA), NHCP, and the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA).
For further inquiries, you may contact the Statistical Classifications Division of the Standards Service with telephone number (+632) 8376-1867 and email address scd.staff@psa.gov.ph.
CLAIRE DENNIS S. MAPA, PhD
Undersecretary
National Statistician and Civil Registrar General
