CEBU CITY — The first regional director for a government agency in the newly established Negros Island Region (NIR) has been named.

Commission on Elections (Comelec) Central Visayas Director Lionel Castillano will move from his office to become the new regional director of Comelec NIR.

His new assignment will be effective Monday, July 1.

Comelec Cebu spokesman Omar Sharif Mamalinta told The Manila Times on Friday night that this was also part of Comelec's reshuffling of officials for the upcoming national midterm elections on May 12, 2025.

On June 13, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed into law the NIR Act, placing Negros Oriental and Siquijor of Central Visayas in the same region as Negros Occidental, which was previously part of Western Visayas.

This change means that only Bohol and Cebu will remain as provinces in Central Visayas. It will also include the highly urbanized cities of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu.

In 2022, Castillano took office as the regional director for Comelec 7. Before that, he was the provincial election supervisor for Comelec Cebu province.

Mamalinta said that the new Comelec 7 director will be Francisco Pobe, the current director of Comelec Caraga.

The Caraga Region comprises five provinces, namely Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Dinagat Islands, Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur.

Meanwhile, the current provincial election supervisor of Comelec Cebu, Edwin Cadungog, will be promoted to lead Comelec Caraga as the acting regional director.

Marchel Sarno, the election officer of the first district of Cebu City, will become the acting provincial election supervisor of Comelec Cebu province.