Farmers blame NIA-10 for dive of rice prod’n

By LITO RULONA
Correspondent .

Farmers in Baungon, Bukidnon blame the National Irrigation Administration-10 for the failure of its irrigation services to sustain rice farming which has contributed to the rise of prices of rice, the farmers’ group spokesman claimed.

Lawyer Ernie Palanan, who serves as spokesperson of farmers based in Baungon, Bukidnon, has written a letter to Senator Richard Gordon, chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee and Atty. Rodulfo Noel Quimbo, Director General of the Blue Ribbon Oversight Office Management to conduct an inquiry on the operation of NIA-10 irrigation canals in the region specifically Baungon, Bukidnon.

He said the Duterte Administration promise of a rice sustaining country has not yet been realized because of NIA-10’s wanting performance.

“The economic managers of President Duterte blamed National Food Authority, Department of Agriculture, National Irrigation Administration, and its line agencies for the afore-mentioned predicaments. Simply put, inefficiency is the main culprit why the Philippines is confronted with this quandary,” he said.

In the case of NIA, Palanan rhetorically asked how could the President make good on his promise of a rice sustaining country if the agency mandated to make sure farms are well irrigated could not perform well.

“How can farmers convert to the irrigated type of farming if there is an inconsistent supply of irrigation water? To humbly point out, consistent flow of irrigation water is vital to the irrigated type of farming,” he pointed out.

He clarified, however, that his first and succeeding letters to the NIA administrator were not complaint letters but were letters to “inform the good office and other oversight offices for possible infractions that might be detrimental to the folks of Baungon, Bukidnon.”

“The same was anchored on the honest belief that under the administration of President Duterte, true change will be realized. The letters were premised on the trust that unbiased and no-nonsense investigation will be conducted by the said good offices to ferret out the truth of the matter. To reiterate, the herein representation is just an ordinary taxpayeresident from  Baungon, Bukidnon, who just happened to be a lawyer, morally bound to bring into light the difficulties of the poor folks of Baungon, Bukidnon,” he added.

Palanan cited the contract signed by Rio Verde Water Consortium and NIA-10 as a case in point.

“The contract does hide the fact that selling of irrigation water intended for farmer beneficiaries, farmers’ lives have been affected, the farm outputs diminished, and NIA failed miserably to reach their own target of 2,000 hectares of irrigated farm lots for Baungon, Bukidnon.

He said no farmer converted into an irrigated type of farming after NIA sold irrigation water, and subsequently, the rice production plummeted.

“All of these points to inefficiency and irregularity. Would these glaring failures speak good public service and good management for the sake of the taxpayers,” Palanan asked.

Palanan cited that the NIA disclosed that based on its contract with Rio Verde, it sold 40 thousand of cubic meters from its irrigation canal at a price of 13 centavos and subsequently, at 17 centavos – a stipulation in their memorandum of agreement inked in 2013.

“This negates ‘temporary in nature’ as what NIA wanted us to believe now. Why the sudden shift of self-serving justifications? The same was not mentioned in their earlier letter reply and the arguments put forward. We know for a fact that the Bubunawan River source of (Rio Verde) is not fully functional until now,” he argued.

He pointed out that no amount of legal justifications would absolve the fact that ordinary farmers have been deprived of much-needed irrigation water.

“Had the good office of NIA conducted actual verification as to the effects of their MOA to ordinary farmers, NIA might discover that the points they relied on are grossly disadvantageous to the farmer-beneficiaries and the government,” he said.

Palanan said it could easily be discovered by a simple actual verification to the end users, the farmer-beneficiaries, by asking pertinent questions.

“(The) bottom line (in) all of these, could easily be verified by asking the actual farmers how the selling of irrigated water affect their production,” he said.

He also furnished the same letter to the Office of the President, Office of the Ombudsman, Gen. Ricardo Bisaya (Retired) Administrator of National Irrigation Administration (NIA) and to the Regional Director of the NIA-10.