Former Senate President Franklin Drilon —file photo/Senate PRIB
MANILA, Philippines — The completion of the Jalaur River Multi-Purpose Project (JRMP II), which could benefit 25,000 farmers, is due to the vital contributions of both the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and former chief executive Benigno Aquino III.
“Give credit where it is due,” said former Senate President Franklin Drilon in a statement issued on Sunday.
Citing the National Irrigation Administration Region VI, Drilon said the Jalaur’s three major dams are set to be inaugurated on July 16, ahead of Marcos’ third State of the Nation Address (Sona).
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“The Aquino administration, under the late President Noynoy Aquino, moved heaven and earth to secure funding for the project’s second phase, decades after its initial conceptualization in the 1960s,” Drilon said.
“In 2023, President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. approved the release of additional funds necessary for the project’s completion, continuing the project first initiated by his father,” he added.
Moreover, the National Economic and Development Authority board meeting in July last year approved the loan restructuring worth P8.48 billion to complete JRMP II.
Its first phase was completed in 1983. The project began in the 1960s after the fourth Congress passed Republic Act 2651, mandating the construction of the Jalaur River Multi-Purpose Project.
During his time, Drilon said, “The administration obtained crucial funding from the Korean Exim Bank, which extended a $207 million loan to the Philippines, considered to be the largest Official Development Assistance project from South Korea to the Philippines. The loan carried a very low interest rate of 0.15 percent per annum. China’s interest rate.”
He added, “one of the project’s primary benefits is its potential to boost rice production significantly, thus stabilizing rice prices—a major inflation driver in the country.”
According to the former senator, the JRMP II is set to provide year-round irrigation to about 31,840 hectares of farmland in Iloilo, which could benefit 25,000 farmers.
Once operational, the project will lead to a 71.54 percent increase in rice production in the province or 197,545 to 338,874 metric tons annually.
Citing the Department of Agriculture, Drilon added that one of the 194 identified priority infrastructure projects under the ‘Build Better More’ program will also benefit about 4,500 indigenous people in Iloilo province.