Revert NIA to DA, says lawmaker

MANILA, Philippines — The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) should be placed under the Department of Agriculture (DA), and not under the Office of the President, according to Magsasaka Rep. Argel Joseph Cabatbat.

Cabatbat issued the statement after the Commission on Audit (COA) called out the NIA for the fifth straight year under the Duterte administration for its multibillion-peso irregularities.

The NIA was previously under the DA, but it was placed under the OP in 2014.

Cabatbat said the NIA reverting to the DA “makes perfect sense since the Agriculture Department should be in charge of everything about the sector — from making sure planting activities are on time and yields sustained, to ensuring proper irrigation systems.”

Should the NIA be placed under the DA again, he said coordination among other attached agencies would be swift especially during times of pandemic and natural calamities.

“The NIA should share the DA’s resources and act as a service agency, instead of a moneymaking corporate agency that it is now being a government-owned and controlled corporation,” he said.

The NIA is currently headed by retired Armed Forces of the Philippines chief Gen. Ricardo Visaya.