Agriculture Secretary Manny Pinol started lobbying for the implementation of the “free irrigation” advocacy of the Duterte administration, gaining several support from the members of legislation.
During the series of the “Tapatan: Gobyerno at Mamamayan” in Oriental Mindoro, Bicol, Samar, Leyte and General Santos City, local chief executives vowed to extend support towards the accomplishment of the advocacy.
The free irrigation commitment of the Duterte administration also received a nod from the members of the Senate, including Senate President Franklin Drilon who was involved in the Jalaur River Irrigation Project, as well as Sen. Loren Legarda who is more than willing to be engaged in the pledge after learning that rice farmers who could not pay the irrigation fees are given “red flag” and deprived of water during the planting season.
“Sen. Cyntia Villar has already proposed, thru Senate Bill 34, a six-year accelerated irrigation program where areas will be assessed according to priority of need,” Piñol said.
The DA chief hopes this commitment will sail through smoothly, both in the Lower and Upper Houses of the Congress, adding to the number of support are the pro-agriculture legislators such as Koko Pimentel, Alan Peter Cayetano, Manny Pacquiao, and Kiko Pangilinan.
In addition, he proposed the funding of additional P4-B to the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) in the 2017 National Budget in order to avoid the reliance of the agency from the irrigation fees of the farmers to provide salaries for its officials, employees, and to carry out operations.
“This is the most ridiculous situation in Philippine agriculture where it is the farmers who are being made to pay for the salaries and wages of a government entity mandated to provide them with water so that they could produce food for the country,” he said.
Sec. Pinol also recommended to amend the charter of the NIA for it to be reverted back to its old status as a line of agency under DA instead of “being a pseudo government-owned corporation” at the present time.
“In a country where poverty incidence is the highest in the farming and fishery sectors, it is like squeezing water out of a rock. Recommendation No. 1 is the fast way of delivering the ‘free irrigation’ promise by 2017,” he said.
“But option Number 2 should be pursued so that in the future, providing ‘free irrigation water’ to the Filipino farmers will no longer be just a political decision of a President who cares for the poor but a policy of government which knows how to acknowledge and reward the sacrifices of the sunburned heroes who produce food for this country,” he added. # Source - (Krizia Sandra G. Palisoc)/www.da.gov.ph
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