PINUKPUK, Kalinga -- Over 4,300 families in two provinces in Region 2 and the Cordillera stand to benefit from the construction of the PHP4.37-billion irrigation project under the government’s “Build, Build, Build” program.
The Chico River Pump Irrigation Project is the first flagship infrastructure project to be financed by China under the Duterte administration's "Build, Build, Build" program, National Irrigation Administration (NIA) chief Ricardo Visaya noted during the project's groundbreaking rites here last June 8.
Funded by a soft loan from the China Exim Bank and to be implemented by the China CAMC Engineering Company, Ltd., the irrigation is expected to be completed in three years.
“The President saw the need for the initiative, giving a major project that had been stalled for over 10 years and setting aside politics in the picture and simply pursuing the goals of the administration to give the farmers a better life,” Visaya said.
The Chico River Pump Irrigation Project is expected to boost the rice production of Cagayan and Kalinga provinces, the Philippines' top rice-producing provinces.
Some 7,530 hectares of rice farms in the towns of Piat and Tuao in Cagayan will benefit from the project. The government expects the upcoming irrigation to boost the towns' total rice production to about 55,719 metric tons a year from the current 31,281 metric tons.
Kalinga’s 173,292 metric tons rice production in 2017 is also expected to increase with the irrigation of 1,170 hectares additional area in Barangays Pinococ and Katabbogan. Both villages are known to be producing only a small quantity of rice due to the hilly terrain.
The irrigation will provide water to 8,700 hectares of new irrigable areas in both provinces.
It was learned that the project was conceptualized before 2010, even prior to a feasibility study was conducted. It was shelved for over eight years.
It was only in September 2016 when the new board of the Investment Coordination Committee-Cabinet Committee of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) approved the project worth PHP2.696 billion.
In March 2017, NEDA confirmed the inclusion of the Chico River Pump Irrigation Project on the list of flagship infrastructure. In December of the same year, the NEDA board approved the project’s change in development scheme and increased the cost to PHP4.37 billion.
President Rodrigo Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping witnessed the formal signing of the contract for the project on the sidelines of the BOAO forum in Hainan, China in April 2018.
Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez signed the loan agreement in behalf of the Philippine government.
Dominguez also cited other projects that had been stalled for so long, such as the Balog Balog Irrigation Project in Tarlac, the Halog Dam, Ilocos Norte Irrigation Project in the north, and another project down south in Iloilo province.
The Balog Balog Irrigation Project had not been funded for 35 years. The Iloilo project was set aside for 12 years, while the northern Philippines irrigation project has been set to be started next year under the China Eximbank fund.
“Makikita po ninyo na lahat ng hindi nagawa ng past administrations (As you can see, all the projects stalled in the past administrations), this administration is very determined to carry out,” Visaya said.
He also assured officials and residents of Kalinga province that NIA will give them high priority, further boosting Kalinga's rice production.
Kalinga’s rice production of 173,292 metric tons (MT) in 2017 was a 25.77-percent increase from 2016 production of 137,784 MT.
The people of Kalinga attributed this to the Duterte administration's immediate action and assistance after the province was devastated by Typhoon Lawin in 2016, enabling the locals to repair and even build more irrigation facilities.
Aside from the long-term benefits of rice sustainability for the country, the Chico irrigation project, itself, will generate 8,700 permanent jobs when it becomes operational in June 2021.
During the construction stage that will start in July 2018, some 14,784 jobs will be created to implement the components of the project.
Among these are the construction of the pump house, the 1.9 kilometers (kms) diversion main canal tunnel, the 4.4 kms. diversion main canal, the 33.5 kms. main canal, the 100.4 kms lateral canals, drainage and irrigation, and drainage structures and facilities.
There will also be an 8-km access road to the pump site, an 84-km service road, and the project management office.
The project works will also include the installation of six electric motor-driven pumps, a 30-km transmission line, and the sub-station.
The roads and irrigation canals will start from Pinukpuk town, stretching to the municipalities of Tuao and Piat in Cagayan province.
The project covers 21 barangays--two in Pinukpuk, Kalinga; 17 in Tuao, Cagayan; and two in Piat, Cagayan, benefitting about 4,350 families.
Commercial Counsellor Jin Yuan of the Embassy of the Peoples Republic of China said in a message during the groundbreaking that the project is the best gift in time for the celebration of Philippine-Chinese Friendship Day last June 9.
The Chinese envoy assured that China will make efforts to avoid further delay in the project, which took over eight years to start since its conceptualization.
He pointed out that as neighbors, China will pursue mutual benefits with the Philippines.
Cagayan Governor Manuel Mamba said Cagayanos have long been waiting for the irrigation project.
Kalinga Governor Jocel Baac requested NIA leadership to add another 2,000 hectares of land in the host province to be irrigated by the project, on top of the identified 1,170 hectares of irrigable land.
Baac also asked NIA to help maintain the watersheds in Kalinga to ensure a continued water supply.
“Another vital consideration is for NIA to provide tree seedlings for reforestation of the Chico River watershed areas and its tributaries like the Tanudan, Pasil, and Saltan rivers,” he said. (PNA)
