Bishops from three dioceses in the central Philippines have joined calls for the creation of a new region that will cover the provinces Northern Samar, Eastern Samar, and Samar.
"One Samar region is for the development of the three provinces," said Bishop Emmanuel Trance of Catarman. "We have common problems of poverty," he told ucanews.com.
The prelate said the current Eastern Visayas region, which includes other island provinces, is so huge that all the provinces have to compete for projects.
The new region proposal has already gained support even from among political leaders in the area.
"Implicitly all the governors agree with us," said Bishop Trance, who believes that forming a new region will expedite the development of Samar.
The Samar provinces are among the poorest in the country.