New NIA head asks employees to set aside differences to serve farmers

MANILA, Philippines — The new head of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) has asked employees to set aside their differences, promising to address concerns so that the agency can deliver services badly needed by farmers.

In an interview with the Laging Handa Public Briefing on Thursday, former Piddig, Ilocos Norte mayor and now NIA Administrator Eduardo Eddie Guillen said he had not encountered any problem in his first few days at the agency when he met with officials and employees.

“Wala naman pong problema, ‘yong first day pa lang, no’ng Monday, pumasok na po tayo nang hapon, and then nagkaroon na kami ng meeting sa mga officials natin doon, at marami na po tayong na-solve na problema po doon sa NIA,” Guilen said.

(We have no problem, on my first day last Monday, we went to work in the afternoon, and then we had meetings with officials there, and we were able to solve several problems at NIA already.)

“Alam naman po natin ang sitwasyon sa NIA, hindi po kasi maiwasan ‘yong pagkabaha-bahagi po ng mga, you know may mga divisiveness po ‘yan, sa politics gano’n din po ‘yan. Sa lahat ng organization meron din po ‘yan. So ‘yong aking, na-call ko po ‘yong attention nila no’ng ako’y pumasok, sinabi ko po, hindi naman kami magkaka-away eh, ang bibigyan po namin ng atensyon ay ‘yong pong serbisyo para po sa ating magsasaka,” he added.

(We know the situation at NIA; divisiveness cannot be avoided as it is in politics. In all organizations, divisiveness also exists. So that is my call to them. I told them that we are not adversaries here; we should focus instead on delivering services to our farmers.)

Complaints vs Antiporda

Guillen also assured NIA employees that he would not meddle in the complaints filed by some workers against his predecessor, former acting administrator Benny Antiporda.

“Ang usapan po namin, again, i-set aside po muna nila ‘yong kanilang mga differences para po makapag-trabaho kaming lahat, at pumayag naman po sila, pati ‘yong mga nagsampa ng reklamo laban po kay Sir Benny, kinausap ko po sila, sabi ko I will make sure na ‘yong kanilang issues (would be addressed),” Guillen said.

(We discussed setting aside our differences so that we could work, and they agreed, even those who filed complaints against Sir Benny, I talked to them, and I said I would make sure that their issues would be addressed.)

“Hindi ko naman po papakialaman ‘yon kasi sinampa na nila sa Ombudsman, ang concern ko lamang po ‘yong tama pong serbisyo, dapat magfocus po kami sa trabaho po namin sa NIA,” he added.

(I would not meddle in that because it has already been filed before the Office of the Ombudsman, my only concern is to provide good service [and] focus on our work here at NIA.)

Antiporda was placed on a six-month preventive suspension without pay by the Office of the Ombudsman after NIA employees and officials filed complaints against him for grave misconduct and alleged harassment.

The complainants said that the suspended official retaliated when they asked why the term ‘acting’ should be removed from Antiporda’s designation. He allegedly ordered that ‘acting’ should be dropped.

Antiporda allegedly responded by barring managers of the Central Office from traveling for work while other officials claimed to have been reassigned and transferred, supposedly without valid grounds.

Antiporda has denied the allegations, saying that some of the claims were blown out of proportion.

READ: NIA chief suspended due to misconduct, other complaints by workers 

Guillen’s appointment papers were signed by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. last December 9, and were released by the Office of the Press Secretary (OPS) on Monday.

According to the new official, he feels qualified to lead the agency, as he was a former mayor and a civil engineer by profession.

“And modesty aside syempre dati po tayong local chief executive, may kaalaman na rin tayo sa pamamahala ng maraming tao and civil engineer po tayo by profession,” he said.

(And modesty aside, of course, I was a former local chief executive, know how to manage personnel, and am a civil engineer by profession.)

JMS/abc