Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla is pushing a major reorganization of Southern Tagalog that could bring CALABARZON and MIMAROPA back under a single Region 4, arguing that the current regional structure makes government operations difficult—particularly across the island provinces.
Remulla floated the proposal during a Senate Finance Subcommittee J hearing on the Department of the Interior and Local Government’s proposed 2027 budget, saying the government needs to rethink how agencies are organized and where their regional command centers are located.
Under the proposal, the existing Region IV-A (CALABARZON) and Region IV-B (MIMAROPA) would be brought together into one Region 4, but government agencies would operate through several command centers instead of relying on a single regional headquarters.
The proposed groupings discussed by Remulla are:
- Cavite and Palawan
- Batangas and Mindoro
- Laguna and Rizal
- Quezon, Marinduque and Romblon
The objective, according to Remulla, is to make government functions more practical and responsive by taking geography, accessibility and actual travel patterns into account.
Why Remulla Wants the Current Setup Changed
The DILG chief pointed to the unusual situation facing MIMAROPA, whose provinces are separated by substantial stretches of sea.
Although Calapan City in Oriental Mindoro serves as the regional center of MIMAROPA, several national government regional offices serving the area are not actually based there.
Remulla specifically cited the DILG’s Region IV-B office, which is located in Quezon City, while other agencies also maintain important regional operations outside Calapan. This, he argued, can make it difficult for regional officials to effectively oversee provinces scattered across the island region.
He described the situation as particularly challenging for regional directors whose responsibilities cover provinces that may require lengthy land and sea travel.
The issue was highlighted during the Senate hearing after Senator Erwin Tulfo raised concerns about the difficulty of moving the Philippine National Police’s MIMAROPA regional leadership between the region’s island provinces.
One example raised was travel between Mindoro and Palawan, which can involve routing through Metro Manila rather than a straightforward trip between provinces.
Not Just About Buying More Boats
The discussion initially touched on whether the PNP could acquire additional sea transport to allow its regional director to travel more efficiently.
PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. said vehicles and watercraft, together with their maintenance requirements, are being considered as part of the police procurement program.
But Remulla argued that transportation alone would not solve the deeper problem.
Instead, he wants to change the regional structure itself, creating command centers that would be more closely aligned with the actual geography and accessibility of the provinces.
“We propose that we bring it back to Region 4, into one region, but divide it into different command centers,” Remulla said.
The DILG chief said this would allow government functions to become more “rationalized” and potentially make agencies more responsive to residents.
A Major Change to a Regional Setup That Dates Back More Than 20 Years
The proposal would represent a significant reversal of the regional arrangement established in 2002, when Executive Order No. 103 divided the former Region IV into Region IV-A and Region IV-B.
CALABARZON consists of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon, while MIMAROPA consists of Marinduque, Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Palawan and Romblon.
MIMAROPA subsequently received a separate statutory basis through Republic Act No. 10879, or the MIMAROPA Act, in 2016.
That means the proposed restructuring would not simply involve moving a few provinces between existing regions. It could require a substantial overhaul of how national government agencies organize their regional operations.
Still Only a Proposal
Despite the potentially sweeping implications, nothing has been finalized.
The DILG has yet to announce an implementation date, final command-center locations, agency transfer arrangements, budget requirements or transition rules. The proposed Quezon-Marinduque-Romblon grouping has also not been formally named “QUEMARO” by the government.
Remulla said the DILG plans to bring the proposed reorganization before the Senate and seek legislative support.
If pursued, the plan could eventually reshape how millions of residents across CALABARZON and MIMAROPA access national government services—particularly people living in geographically isolated and island communities.
For now, however, CALABARZON remains Region IV-A and MIMAROPA remains Region IV-B under the existing structure. Any change would still have to go through the appropriate government and legislative processes.
Why This Matters
The debate comes as government agencies continue to confront the practical challenges of delivering services across the Philippines’ geographically diverse regions. Recent government reporting has also highlighted the logistical demands of disaster response and relief operations in both CALABARZON and MIMAROPA, underscoring why accessibility and coordination remain important issues for the two regions.
The bigger question now is whether Remulla’s proposed “unified Region 4” can move from a Senate budget hearing proposal into an actual government reorganization—and whether lawmakers will agree that changing the map is the best way to bring services closer to the people.
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