No more irrigation fees collection—NIA

BUENAVISTA, BOHOL, Philippines — “We have already stop the collection of irrigation service fees (ISF) starting January 2017,” and it’s only a matter of time that a law will be enacted abolishing the ISF.

This was the statement of Ricardo Visaya, new administrator of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA), during the groundbreaking ceremony of the Bonotbonot Small Reservoir Irrigation Project (SRIP) at barangay Rufo Hill in the coastal town of Buenavista in Bohol.

The SRIP event was also attended by Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco, NIA-7 Regional Director Modesto Membreve, 2nd district Representative Aris Aumentado, and Mayor Ronald Lowell Tirol, among others.

Visaya, a retired Army general, said since the ISF collection is gone, the irrigators associations (IAs) are now tasked to manage the irrigation, and NIA will always be there to assist them. He also admitted it was his first time in Bohol, as he urged the barrio folk and IAs—attending the event—to support the SRIP.

Visaya said the NIA is improving its system so that there will be no delays in its projects, which the past administration failed to implement.

Under President Rodrigo Duterte administration, more irrigation projects are expected to be in place, not only to improve the lot of the farmers, but also to uplift the economic condition of the people in the province, said Visaya.

He said the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) had approved the increase of the NIA’s budget from P36 billion to P46 billion, and this would enable the agency to implement more projects.

Evasco, for his part, said he hoped that the completion of the SRIP would increase rice production from four to five or more tons per hectare per harvest, on top of the rice sufficiency of the province.

He told the crowd that the Duterte administration is “always sincerely looking for poor people’s welfare,” adding that the people should always pray for the president to have good health so that he will carry his tasks out well.

Aumentado, in his brief speech, lauded the Duterte administration, through Evasco and Visaya, for realizing the project—a brainchild of his late father, then congressman and governor Erico Aumentado—with full funding. He also thanked the NIA for making true of its promise to abolish the ISF.

Membreve, for his part, said the project would cost the government P620 million, as approved by Duterte. The SRIP, which is 23-meters high and 123-meters long, is designed to irrigate about 550 hectares, benefitting 220 farmers of Barangays Cangawa, Bato, Bugaong, Lapacan Norte, and Cantuba.

The town could also make use of the water from the SRIP for other uses, because the dam capacity can hold about 7.3 million cubic meter of water, more than what the farmers need, said the NIA-7 director.

Membreve said the project was bid out last January, with the winning contractor Leyte-based Premium Mega Construction, which is also expected to sign the formal agreement next month, and then start the construction. (FREEMAN)