Senator Kiko Pangilinan successfully sponsored and defended the P54.79-billion budget of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) for the 2026 fiscal year, highlighting the importance of expanding irrigation systems to develop agricultural lands, empower farmers, and achieve food security.
The budget will also include a P50-million allocation for transparency measures—including a public online dashboard—stressing that, “transparency is key to public accountability.”
Pangilinan’s sponsorship of NIA’s 2026 proposed budget follows the agency’s compliance with requests from Senate President Pro Tempore Ping Lacson, Senator Raffy Tulfo, and Senator Rodante Marcoleta for updated information on various NIA projects.
These include the breakdown of the 265 national irrigation systems by operational capacity, an inspection report on repairs to Small Reservoir Irrigation Projects, a list of all contractors involved in the repairs, a list of farmer-beneficiaries of the irrigation projects, and compliance documents for high dam contracts, among others.
In his opening statement recently, Pangilinan stressed the significant role that well-developed irrigation systems can play in the country’s agricultural sector.
“Kung walang tubig, walang tutubo.”
“Irrigation is the most powerful force multiplier in Philippine agriculture,” the veteran legislator said. “Sabi nga po kung walang tubig, walang tutubo. It is also our most effective climate adaptation tool, protecting farmers from drought, erratic rainfall, and extreme weather.”
The proposed budget will allow NIA to invest heavily in national, communal, and pump irrigation systems; major multipurpose projects; and transparency measures, among others, the seasoned lawmaker assured.
“Such investments will ensure that water flows from river to canal, canal to field, and field to Filipino households through affordable food.”
Such investments, the senator added, will ensure that “water flows from river to canal, canal to field, and field to Filipino households through affordable food”.
It will also support construction, rehabilitation, expansion, and monitoring of irrigation systems nationwide.
Pangilinan, who chairs the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food, and Agrarian Reform, is pushing for the empowerment of the country’s agricultural sector through better financial resources, improved government support, and solutions-based policies.
He said that an increase in the budget of the agriculture department and its attached agencies, such as NIA, will lead to rural development, improve the lives of farmers and fisherfolk, strengthen local food production, and achieve national food security.
