Antiporda cries foul over 'injustice, intrigues' that led to his removal as NIA chief

Former National Irrigation Administration acting chief Benny Antiporda on Thursday cried foul over his removal from post, saying he was a victim of injustice and intrigues.

"Last week, [through] news reports, I learned that I had been replaced as Acting Administrator of the National Irrigation Administration. It would have been civil if I had been given the courtesy beforehand but such is the ways of government service today and I accept my replacement with fortitude and humility," Antiporda said in an open letter shared to the media.

"It is unfortunate however that while fulfilling my commitments to the President, I was made a victim of injustice and intrigue and which I was made to pay thru my removal," he added.

Antiporda still extended his gratitude to President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. for the opportunity to serve the government even in a short period of time.

The former NIA chief said his actions to fight the "culture of corruption" within the agency was with the "clear imprimatur" of Marcos during a meeting in Malacanang last August.

During his brief stint in the agency, Antiporda said he found out that NIA  has so far been able to irrigate only about 65.28% of its total potential coverage areas.

The irrigation projects were done at a very slow pace with 0.02 to 0.12% incremental increase annually from 2008 to 2021, he added.

Antiporda said they conducted a study which showed that the "humongous" problem was brought about by undue delays in the completion of numerous irrigation projects that cost billions every year.

"In my brief tenure, the saddest conclusion that I made is that, for the longest time, NIA has been a milking cow for unscrupulous officials and private individuals. This has stunted the growth of our agriculture sector over the decades while making a few individuals very rich. In sum, a large part of the blame goes to the still prevailing corrupt practices at the NIA as being behind all the delays in the completion of our irrigation projects," he said.

He said he has a complete listing of the projects and costs and expressed belief that this is just the tip of the iceberg.

"So, this brings us to the other compelling question: Who were the officials and contractors involved in all these delays? Who should be made accountable to our people? Sadly though, I can no longer answer these questions," he said.

Antiporda then hoped that his successor would continue the fight against corruption in NIA.

Last week, the Office of the Press secretary confirmed that Marcos has appointed former Piddig, Ilocos Norte mayor Eduardo Guillen as the new acting administrator of NIA.

This came after the Office of the Ombudsman placed Antiporda under a six-month preventive suspension following the administrative complaints filed by several NIA employees against him.

Antiporda earlier called on Marcos to look into the case as he claimed that the complaint is a smear campaign and only seeks to humiliate him and the President.—AOL, GMA Integrated News