The national government should spend at least P200 billion a year to fund several dam projects to improve the Philippines’ agricultural landscape and eventually address food security and poverty.
Eduardo Guillen, acting administrator of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) said the President had ordered the agency and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to work together to improve the irrigation system in the country with the help of the dams and flood control projects being built by the latter. At present, the government irrigates around 12 million hectares a year.
Guillen said dams control the flow of water which is helpful in flood control as well as in allocating water supply for irrigation and eventually in producing electricity especially from solar energy as solar panels can be put on dams.
He added NIA previously submitted a list of proposed projects to the President, many involving the construction of dams, that totaled to a trillion pesos.
He said the list is a comprehensive proposal that includes the cost and size of the project, the number of beneficiaries and irrigated lands, and the other uses of dam projects such as for solar energy, tourism, etc.
The costs differ depending on the size of the project and areas it covers, he noted. For instance, the proposed Tumauini-Isabela Dam is worth P10 billion but can serve 8,200 hectares and it comes with a “power component.”
“Again, it is not just for solving food security. You know, it’s hitting multiple birds with one stone. When it comes to the economic internal rate of return or the benefit of the people’s return, there is no doubt if you build a dam, the benefit to the people is a lot,” Guillen said.
The proposed dams are part of NIA’s presentation on the National Food Security Convergence Program or Wealth Creation Capacity of Agriculture in the Philippines to the President.
The project aims to address concerns in the agricultural sector and help in poverty alleviation and the creation of wealth, as well as to improve the irrigation system and the income of farmers and ensure the efficient and right delivery of services.
