A PARTY-LIST lawmaker has filed a bill abolishing the irrigation service fees and similar imposts being paid by Filipino farmers to the National Irrigation Administration.
Anakpawis party-list Rep. Ariel Casilao, in House Bill 558 or the proposed “Free Irrigation Services Act of 2016,” stressed the need for Congress to enact a measure that will provide the necessary and vital support services and assistance to farmers, including but not limited to inputs to production, production support, post-harvest facilities and irrigation services.
“The government should promote a comprehensive rural development through increased agricultural production and the adoption of necessary and sound measures to accelerate the achievement of self-sufficiency in food, equitable access to opportunities and sustained productivity in rural areas,” Casilao said.
Casilao said the collection of irrigation service fees (ISFs) and such other similar or related fees from beneficiaries of irrigation systems funded and constructed by, or under the administration of the National Irrigation Administration, including the collection of back accounts and the corresponding penalties thereof, shall all be stopped upon the passage of this Act.
Likewise, Casilao said back accounts and corresponding penalties shall be immediately canceled upon the passage of the proposed act.
For the purpose of ensuring the necessary construction, repair and maintenance of irrigation systems administered by the NIA, Casilao said the required amounts shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act.
Casilao said the State shall provide the necessary subsidies to farmers and irrigators associations and cooperatives to ensure the effective and grassroots-based management of irrigation systems, the funding of which shall likewise be included in the annual GAA.
Under the bill, the NIA has the power to collect from the users of each irrigation system constructed by it such fees as may be necessary to finance the continuous operation of the system and reimburse within a certain period not less than 25 years the cost of construction thereof.
The NIA, the bill stated, is allowed to charge and collect from the beneficiaries of the water from all irrigation systems constructed by or under its administration, such fees or administration charges as may be necessary to cover the cost of operation, maintenance and insurance.
Unpaid irrigation fees or administration charges shall be preferred liens, first, upon the land benefited, and then on the crops raised thereon, which liens shall have preference over all other liens except for taxes on the land, and such preferred liens shall not be removed until all fees or administration charges are paid or the property is levied upon and sold by the NIA, Casilao said.
He said all amounts collected by the National Irrigation Administration as irrigation fees, administration charges, drainage fees, equipment rentals, proceeds from the sale of unserviceable equipment and materials, sale of all reparation goods allocated to the defunct Irrigation Service Unit and the National Irrigation Administration, and all other income shall be added to its operating capital.
The bill mandates the NIA to impose as an administration and engineering overhead charge, 5 percent of the total cost of projects undertaken by it, which shall likewise form part of its operating capital.