Senators scrap P50-B lump-sum increases in NIA budget

Metro Manila, Philippines – Senator Imee Marcos said she pushed for deleting over P50 billion in lump-sum allocations that the House of Representatives added to the National Irrigation Administration's budget, calling it a "source of confusion and potential corruption."

Marcos, chairperson of the finance subcommittee handling the NIA budget, disclosed this during Monday’s deliberations on the agency’s spending plan for next year.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III inquired about the P42.5 billion allocated for NIA in the National Expenditure Program proposed by Malacañang.

Marcos confirmed the figure, noting that the House proposed “P51.135 billion worth of lump-sum increases.”

“What we did in the Senate version is, first, delete all the lump sums because I believe as Senator [Raffy] Tulfo highlighted that this is the source of confusion and potential corruption because there are no line items, there is no identification of individual projects or even their location,” Marcos said.

“So as a result, the subcommittee deleted P51.135 billion worth of lump sum increases in pump irrigation, communal irrigation, national system irrigation. So nagtanggal po ako ng napakalaking halaga pero [I removed a significant amount],” she added.

Marcos said the lion’s share of the questionable funding is a single procurement contract worth P44.385 billion for the "pump irrigation program," which only had a P2-billion allocation under the NEP.

Meanwhile, Marcos said the subcommittee restored about P6.135 billion, which the House had previously removed, for farmer assistance, heavy equipment purchases, and other locally funded projects, bringing the new total to P47.558 billion.

Pimentel described the House move as “unusual or intriguing” and supported the decision to remove the lump-sum allocations, noting that funds should be identified through line items. He said the House and Senate versions would next be reconciled in the bicameral conference committee.

New probe sought for NIA projects

Meanwhile, Tulfo again criticized NIA’s Balog-Balog Dam project in San Jose, Tarlac, as the agency continues to request P261 million annually for repair and maintenance costs despite the unfinished and non-operational project. NIA ultimately withdrew the funding request.

Tulfo also questioned the P50 million requested for the repair of the Bulo Small Reservoir Irrigation Project in Doña Remedios Trinidad, Bulacan, noting that the project is in a bad shape despite years of funding.

“Last year during the Blue Ribbon Committee investigation ay sinabi nila na gagawa sila ng paraan para i-fix ang problema (Last year, during the Blue Ribbon Committee investigation, they said they would find a way to fix the problem),” Tulfo said.

Senator Cynthia Villar urged the Blue Ribbon Committee to re-investigate irrigation projects, which Tulfo backed.