Marcos transfers NIA supervision back to president's office
Metro Manila, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered the return of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) supervision to his office.
Marcos issued Executive Order 69 to make this move. It was signed on Sept. 5 by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin and was publicized on Sept. 10, Tuesday.
Republic Act 3601 in 1963 created the NIA as a government-owned or controlled corporation attached to the Office of the President (OP).
The NIA has been transferred among the OP, Department of Public Works and Highways, and Department of Agriculture a couple of times throughout the years.
“Irrigation management and development is vital towards achieving food security and ensuring infrastructure development in the country, which are among the administration's priority initiatives,” Marcos said.
“It is imperative to streamline and rationalize the functional relationships of agencies with complementary mandates in order to promote coordination, efficiency, and coherence within the bureaucracy,” he added.
The NIA Board will now be composed of a representative from the Office of the President, the NIA administrator, as well as the secretaries for public works, agriculture, and the National Economic and Development Authority.
Marcos will also appoint to the board a representative from the private sector.
In a statement, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said the transfer was a “strategic move,” although he acknowledged that the NIA should be under the DA in “normal circumstances.”
“However, given the urgent need to irrigate over a million hectares of land to boost agricultural productivity, especially for rice, President Marcos made a strategic — possibly a game-changing — move that would ensure that NIA receives the substantial funding necessary to fulfill this crucial mandate swiftly,” he said.
“By transferring NIA to the OP, the government aims to mobilize additional funds to accelerate irrigation projects and improve agricultural outcomes,” Laurel also said.
The irrigation body’s budget is currently under the Agriculture Department.
RELATED: Laurel seeks higher DA budget after hefty cut
The Department of Budget and Management approved ₱42 billion as the NIA’s proposed budget for next year.
This was a 39% decrease compared to ₱70 billion allocated for the government corporation in this year's budget. This was also the major cut in the DA’s proposed funding for next year.
