Free irrigation started this year, says NIA

The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) has started implementing free irrigation services to Filipino farmers, setting aside the service fees embodied in Republic Act No. 3601.

"We stopped collecting irrigation service fee (ISF) effective January 1, 2017. So ang mga farmers wala na silang binabayad sa NIA," NIA Administrator Peter Laviña said during a forum in Quezon City on Thursday.

RA 3601 authorized the NIA to collect irrigation service fees the from farmers and farmers' associations.

A P2-billion fund under the P3.3-trillion national budget approved by both chambers of Congress allowed the NIA to set aside the ISF, Laviña noted.

The money will cover the operating requirements of NIA and the maintenance of existing irrigation facilities previously funded out of the ISF collections.

"So next year we will have to ask for additional ... Ang original na hiningi for 2017 is more than P4 billion, so baka ganun din ang hihingin namin for next year to cover the operations and maintenance of irrigation systems," Laviña said.

Citing data from the NIA 10-year masterplan crafted under the administration of then-President Benigno Aquino III, Laviña noted only 57 percent of the country’s irrigable lands are hooked up to irrigation systems while 43 percent has none.

During the forum, Laviña said around P40 billion a year is needed to fund the necessary irrigation infrastructure projects.

"In 10 years time, I think all lands will be irrigated. The dream of irrigating lands will really take time," he said. — VDS, GMA News