Senator Cynthia A. Villar slammed the National Irrigation Authority (NIA) over its “chaotic” presentation of spending for its budget allocation.
During the Senate Subcommittee on Finance presided by Villar, the agency has been asking for a P32.1 billion budget for next year.
But Villar said the NIA presented “an unclear report on how and where they intend to spend next year’s capital outlay.”
Villar also scored the NIA for “deliberately submitting voluminous documents with chaotic and vague reports” instead of sending a simple report. She suggested that the NIA should have sent a summary of its report.
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III cited the Commission on Audit (COA) which also criticized the NIA for its unclear report on budget spending.
Senator Raffy Tulfo also confronted NIA on the P500 million it has been asking for its feasibility study of its irrigation projects for 2024.
Villar said she already ordered to stop funding for big-ticket items because there are still several unfinished projects.
Lawmakers earlier lowered NIA’s budget for feasibility studies from to P1.2 billion to P400 million after learning that the agency already has ongoing studies on similar projects.
NIA Acting Administrator Eddie Guillen explained the new funding will be for a pre-feasibility study of 25 projects and full feasibility study for 29 small reservoir irrigation projects (SIRP) which were required by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).
Villar said she remains unconvinced that funding for a feasibility study should be included in the budget. She said there should be no separate funding for this matter.
NIA was also grilled for its pre-feasibility study because the agency is using “in-house” engineers.
Villar asserted these engineers should no longer be paid but Guillen said NIA is still doing a geo-technical test which went through a bidding process.
Villar also lambasted the NIA for combining maintenance and other operating expenses with wages and projects and their maintenance in the NIA report.