Acting chief Eduardo Guillen of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA). FILE PHOTO
Officials of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) on Friday came under fire from senators anew as Sen. Raffy Tulfo slammed the agency for seeking P7.1 billion to finance communal irrigation systems that had already been devolved to local governments.
“You have been fooling the people for a long time. We are facing many problems on rice production because you failed to do your job,” Tulfo told NIA acting chief Eduardo Guillen in a raised voice.
“You were given several billions of pesos to provide water irrigation for rice farmers. Instead of doing your job, you stole public funds!” he said at the Senate deliberations on the NIA’s budget.
Tulfo pointed out that Guillen previously told the chamber that such services were already “totally devolved” to the local governments.
As he had disclosed during the Senate blue ribbon committee’s inquiry into the alleged irregularities in NIA, the broadcaster-turned-legislator said the agency had been spending hundreds of millions of pesos for the supposed upkeep of irrigation projects that were not even completed.
Sen. Cynthia Villar, who presided over the hearing, directed Guillen to personally lead the inspection of the supposed graft-laden irrigation projects in the provinces in Caraga region, as claimed by Tulfo.
“As [head of agency], you have to go there personally because sometimes your subordinates don’t tell you the truth,” Villar said.
Reforms being implemented
Fielding questions from Tulfo, Guillen said they set aside funds for communal irrigation systems as part of NIA’s budget request of P41.2 billion for 2024 since some of these facilities were still “in the process of being devolved” to the local governments.
“So why did you cite ‘devolution’ as a reason to evade my questions during the blue ribbon committee’s hearing?” Tulfo pointed out.
“You should not ask for funds for [services] that your agency already passed on to the [local government],” he added.
Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III blasted the NIA officials for refusing to answer questions regarding a P296-million irrigation project since a case regarding the matter was allegedly pending in the court.
In his defense, Guillen assured the senators that he had already started implementing reforms in the agency since President Marcos appointed him to the post in December 2022, admitting that irregularities were indeed committed by previous NIA officials.
Despite this, Tulfo moved to defer the approval at the committee level of NIA’s proposed budget pending the submission of reports for the allegedly questionable irrigation projects in Caraga, Northern Samar and Calabarzon.