Free irrigation for farmers

COTABATO CITY -Department of Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said beginning next year, irrigation system in the country will provide water to farmers for free.

Speaking to Philippine News Agency (PNA) in a phone interview, Piñol said President Rodrigo Duterte, upon his recommendation during Monday's Cabinet meeting, has approved free irrigation for the country's millions of rice farmers starting the first planting season in 2017.

During this year's election campaign and even before he decided to run for the highest post in the land, Pres. Duterte has repeatedly said that irrigation water should be provided free to the country's small rice farmers to improve their productivity.

Piñol said there were oppositions to the idea, especially from some officials of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) who said that the free irrigation scheme would affect the viability of the agency since the Irrigation Service Fees (ISF) amounting to about PHP4-B every year is the source of the salaries of its workers and officials.

But Piñol said "Duterte has other noble things in mind than collecting taxes from the lowly farmers who provide food for every Filipino's dining table."

He also said that Sen. Loren Legarda, chair of the Senate finance committee of the Senate, and Rep. Karlo Nograles, chair of the appropriations committee at the House of Representatives, have separately expressed support to the President's free irrigation commitment.

He said both legislators favored the President's idea that an allocation of P4 billion will be included in the NIA budget for 2017 to cover the ISF collections.

However, Piñol said the President's idea is really for small farmers who are the priority, while corporate farmers serviced by NIA will have to pay the irrigation service fees.

Eliseo Sumayao, president of a farmers association in North Cotabato welcomed the good news, saying the President has made good his campaign promise.

"I surely know (that) my feeling now is also the feeling of all farmers all over the Philippines who heard this good news," Sumayao said.

Piñol, a farmer by heart and deed, also lauded the President for giving importance to the plight of rice farmers, one of the abused sectors in the country but produce the country's top food requirements.