SAYING that it is the government that should provide the necessary and vital support services and assistance to the farmers, at least six party-list lawmakers have called for a stop to the collection of irrigation service fees.
Representatives Fernando Hicap of Anakpawis, Neri Colmenares and Carlos Isagani Zarate of Bayan Muna, Emmi de Jesus of Gabriela, Antonio Tinio of ACT Teachers and Terry Ridon of Kabataan have filed House Bill 6224, or the Free Irrigation Services Act of 2015 that seeks to amend Republic Act 3601, Presidential Decree 552 and Presidential Decree 1702.
“Given the strategic importance of irrigation in pursuing sustained agricultural growth and development, rice self-sufficiency, food security, and the upliftment of the welfare of Filipino farmers, it is the obligation of the State to provide free irrigation services,” Hicap said.
Irrigation is needed to increase the productivity of farmers, especially in the production of rice and corn, and is therefore the key in ensuring the food security of the Filipino people, he noted.
Adopting the World Bank’s principle that water resource is a commodity, the government has been implementing various finance mechanisms to collect irrigation service fees from farmers, he said.
“Farmer-beneficiaries of the national irrigation system program administered by the National Irrigation Administration and irrigators associations under the communal irrigation systems are forced to pay exorbitant irrigation service fees,” he said.
“This has led to huge amount of back accounts or unpaid irrigation service fees. These back accounts, which are imposed with penalties and interests, have further burdened the already poor farmers with bigger debts.”
NIA was also studying the scrapping of irrigation service fees, Administrator Florencio Padernal told a House budget hearing in August.
The collection of fees is part of NIA’s mandate under RA 3601 which created the agency.
Padernal earlier said policy experts such as the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, including the Japanese International Cooperation Agency, were consulted on the impact of the fee abolition on NIA itself and the farmers.
The irrigation service fees are being used to shoulder the operation and maintenance cost of NIA’s irrigation facilities.
House Bill 6224 seeks to provide the necessary subsidies to farmers and irrigators associations and cooperatives to ensure the effective and grassroots-based management of irrigation systems.
Farmers belonging to the irrigators associations and stakeholders are united in demanding for free irrigation services, abolition of irrigation service fees and “genuinely just program” that would accelerate irrigation development nationwide, Hicap said.