To prevent the repeat of the anomalous flood control projects, Senator Kiko Pangilinan has proposed the inclusion of transparency and accountability mechanisms within the irrigation projects implemented by the National Irrigation Administration (NIA).
Pangilinan, who heads the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food, and Agrarian Reform, emphasized that efficient and corruption-free irrigation projects are crucial to enhancing agricultural productivity and bolstering the country’s food security.
“On the issue of monitoring, precisely, we are introducing a transparency special provision in the budget.”
“On the issue of monitoring, precisely, we are introducing a transparency special provision in the budget, and an allocation of about P50M for (a) public online dashboard,” the veteran legislator said during his sponsorship of NIA’s proposed budget for the fiscal year 2026 recently.
“In other words, kasama diyan ang photos, geo-tagging, pangalan ng contractors, amount, status ng proyekto, at ito ay kasama sa mandato for purposes of transparency for all NIA projects,” the seasoned lawmaker added.
In the subcommittee report submitted to Senator Win Gatchalian, the chair of the Senate Committee on Finance, Pangilinan underscored the need for an additional budget for three proposed special provisions-Transparency of Irrigation Projects, Citizen Participatory Audit, and Quarterly Reporting Requirement.
The senator is also the vice chair of the Subcommittee J of the Senate Committee on Finance.
“The NIA will be mandated to establish and maintain a public online dashboard for irrigation projects.”
Under these special provisions, the NIA will be mandated to establish and maintain a public online dashboard for irrigation projects, where timeline, status, finances (obligated/disbursed/source of funds), awarded contracts, contractors, and geo-tagged photos taken at key stages (start, mid, completion) will be displayed.
“This will enable real-time monitoring of project implementation and ensure that information on project status, contracts, and fund utilization is accessible to the public and oversight agencies,” the report read.
The report also underscored “the need for NIA to support the Citizen Participatory Audit Program of the Commission on Audit (COA) to empower civil society in auditing government activities to ensure that funds are utilized legally and efficiently”.
Pangilinan likewise included the quarterly reporting requirement provision, mandating NIA to submit a quarterly report on all irrigation projects to the House Committee on Appropriations and the Senate Committee on Finance to detail the projects’ status, implementation progress, financial and physical accomplishments, and any issues affecting completion.
In his manifestation during the budget debate for NIA’s proposed 2026 allocation, Gatchalian said that Pangilinan has identified each irrigation project with the exact coordinates-instead of merely providing the lump sum amounts in the National Expenditure Program (NEP).
“So thank you, Sen. Kiko Pangilinan, for that very important intervention so that our constituents now can follow to the last project kung saan po yung irrigation projects sa kanilang lokalidad,” Gatchalian said.
Pangilinan, for his part, expressed hope that all government agencies handling infrastructure projects can specify the details and exact coordinates of each project in their proposed budgets to promote transparency and accountability.
