NIA says P9.9-B budget to finance NCR projects

MANILA, Philippines - The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) defended over the weekend its proposed allocation of P9.9 billion for the National Capital Region (NCR), saying this would be used for projects with management offices located in the central office.

“The P9.865 billion is not meant to fund irrigation projects in Metro Manila for a very obvious reason: there are no irrigation projects or systems in this very urbanized part of the country,” said NIA public affairs manager Pilipina Bermudez in a statement.

“The said amount, although it is stated in the DBM (Department of Budget and Management) document that it is allocated to National Capital Region, is in fact for project with project management offices based at the NIA central office in Quezon City and/or activities undertaken by some sectors at the central office,” she added.

Bermudez said the allocation would fund the feasibility studies, detailed engineering and pre-engineering activities of various locally-funded projects, as well as the provision for the non-power component of the San Roque Multipurpose Project.  

Foreign-assisted projects of NIA, which have project management offices at the NIA central office in Quezon City, would also have counterpart funding from the Philippine government through the allocation.

These include the nationwide Participatory Irrigation Project-Phase I (PIDP), National Irrigation Sector Rehabilitation and Improvement Project, Jalaur River Multipurpose Irrigation Project Stage II, and Adopting to Climate Change Impact Through the Construction of Water Impounding Facilities in the Philippines.

The P9.9 billion allocation would also provide for general administration expenses and operation support for the construction of various irrigation projects nationwide.

The fund also covers the provision of irrigation services for beneficiaries of agrarian reform.

NIA Administrator Florencio Padernal earlier said the agency is centralizing fund releases “to have greater control of the agency’s finances.”

Padernal also said the agency would be reviewing the inventory of irrigation projects pipelined for implementation in the two remaining years of the current administration.

He said the agency would also be implementing mechanisms to fast-track the implementation of irrigation projects. In terms of project programming, he wants projects to be finished in two to five years instead of 10 years.

Feasibility studies, surveys and preliminary and detailed design of projects shall be conducted three to six months before actual implementation.

Within the next two years, restoration and rehabilitation of projects will be prioritized to increase irrigated areas, he said.