Assessing the Resurgent Irrigation Development Program of the Philippines –Institutional Arrangements for Irrigation Governance ; PIDS: Discussion Paper Series ; No. 2020-08

In: http://hdl.handle.net/11540/11735

Open Access

Abstract

This project aims to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of the government's irrigation program. It focuses on technical, physical, and institutional aspects of performance of both national (NIS) and communal irrigation systems (CIS), and selected case studies. The governance component describes and analyzes the governance mechanisms of the entire irrigation project cycle from planning to monitoring and evaluation. It draws on the findings from the other studies within this project, while focusing on governance, particularly higherlevel issues cutting across national and communal systems and also across the other water sector agencies. The project was done in two cycles. Cycle 1 conducted in 2015 covered the seven regions of Luzon. Respondents were National Irrigation Administration (NIA) officers from the 7 Regional Irrigation Offices (RIO) and 14 Irrigation Management Offices (IMO), in the following provinces: 1) Laguna; 2) Ilocos Norte; 3) Cagayan; 4) Isabela; 5) Nueva Vizcaya; 6) Benguet; 7) Pangasinan; 8) Nueva Ecija; 9) Pampanga; 10) Camarines Sur; and 11) Occidental Mindoro. The Cycle 2 covers NIS and CIS in eight (8) IMOs and 6 RIOs in the Visayas and Mindanao regions. The 8 selected Irrigation Management Offices (IMOs) visited for this study are in the following provinces: 1) Leyte; 2) Bohol; 3) Iloilo; 4) Capiz 5) North Cotabato; 6) South Cotabato; 7) Davao del Sur;; and 8) Bukidnon. Correspondingly, the 6 Regional Irrigation Offices (RIOs) are Regions 6,7,8,10,11and 12, where only four were visited. The CIS and NIS IA level governance data were gathered by the technical teams. Whenever possible, data from Cycle 1 gathered from Luzon were integrated in this report. KIIs were conducted in all the IMOs and 4RIOs included in the study. KIIs were also conducted in national agencies including the DA-BSWM, DENR-RBCO, DAR, DILG, NPC and NWRB. Focus group discussions were conducted in NIA Central Office and NEDA Regional Office VI. Results of the national agencies' KIIs validated what is in the literature and results of the same exercise last Cycle 1 (Rola 2015): that irrigation development plan is fragmented both vertically and horizontally, database used for planning has multiple sources, the whole irrigation sector is composed of several agencies, each with each own plan, and technical personnel, and these agencies while collaborating with one another can also cause some data reporting problems. Respondents from the national agencies all agreed that an integrated irrigation development plan is needed. Institutional arrangements in the planning and design of irrigation projects are a challenge as there is not enough organizational links among them. Implementation of irrigation projects is done mainly by the NIA and the BSWM. The NIA has the technical capacity to implement projects, thus maintaining this capacity will be important for sustainability. For project implementation, farmers in both the NIS and CIS IAs participate in terms of labor/manpower/assistance in implementation. Half of the respondents said that free irrigation policy is not at all beneficial in terms of management of the IAs O and M. All NIS IAs still follow the provisions of the IMT, despite the new policy. With free ISF, the IAs were "encouraged" by NIA to collect from members some amounts which IAs can keep and use to augment their O&M funds. Data for service area and cropping intensity are taken from reports from the field. There is a set system for monitoring the irrigation system performance based on field reports. There is GIS capacity in the country that the NIA may access for more modern monitoring and reporting. It is also recommended that water resource and research centers be put in place in the academe to have a central body for data storage and analysis. An apex body to harmonize policies and programs across the water sector will also be ideal.