Several large irrigation dam projects that had been stalled for years or decades under previous administrations are now fully funded and under active construction, the National Irrigation Administration chief said Saturday, crediting President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for treating food security as a genuine spending priority.
NIA Administrator Eduardo Guillen made the disclosure in an interview on DZRH News program Special on Saturday on June 13, saying the Balog-Balog Multipurpose Dam in Tarlac—a project he said had been left unfinished by multiple previous administrations—is now fully funded and has been awarded to a quadruple-A contractor working around the clock to complete it.
“Ilang Presidente ang dumagdag, sabi niya may dalawa pang Presidente po galing ng Tarlac, pero hindi nila nagawa iyan. Ngayon fully funded po iyan under the term ng ating Presidente, at awarded po iyan ngayon sa isang quadruple-A contractor. Araw at gabi po sila gumagawa diyan,” Guillen said.
He said the Tumauini River Impounding Dam in Isabela, the Ilocos Norte-Ilocos Sur-Abra Irrigation Project known as INISAIP, and the Jalaur Dam in Panay are also now fully funded under the current administration.
Guillen said NIA has also initiated the Panay River Basin project and is pursuing multiple irrigation projects along the Pulangi River in Mindanao, including a major dam in Sultan Kudarat that has already been completed.
He said the push to complete long-delayed dams is central to the Marcos administration’s food security agenda, with Guillen noting that irrigation infrastructure directly determines the country’s ability to sustain agricultural production.
“Sabi niya tulungan natin ang NIA, dahil kung walang tubig ay hindi tayo makapagtanim,” Guillen said, quoting the President’s directive.
Former Senator Orly Mercado, who joined the interview as a studio guest, noted that the absence of a National Land Use Plan has historically complicated long-term infrastructure investment decisions — a structural gap that makes the execution of these dam projects all the more significant.
