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The Philippines is one of the counties in Asia
(Embraced Culture) blessed with soil suited for agriculture.
for this reason,
many filipinos find their livelihood in farming.
there is still a Iot to do
for the rest of the country.
Our irrigation developments
as of December 2009
was 49.2 percent
which means that out of the
3.126 miIlion hectares
to be developed,.
only 1.5 milIion hectares
has benefitted from it so far.
this whoIe undertaking
is shared by the NationaI Systems.
CommunaI Systems
and Private Irrigation Systems.
More or less ten dams have already been built
in Visayas and Mindanao
since SPISP started in June 2000.
The Rugnan Dam in Taraka. lanao del Sur
Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao
is so far the only project
that wasn't expected to be buiIt.
OriginaIly, they were supposed to do
only the Malaig River lrrigation System.
this was the core project of the SPISP.
During the height of the Mindanao conflict,.
when former President Estrada declared
an aIl-out war against the Muslim rebels,.
they were not abIe to reach Butig.
So they Iooked for an aIternative
and it was then when they saw this Iocation.
lt was 2003 when peopIe
from NlA CentraI Office
and SPISP CPMO
started to gather data
for the feasibility Study on Rugnan RIS.
ln 2004. the study was completed
and after that
we pushed on with the Detailed Design.
Now we are aIready on construction.
Before a dam could be buiIt.
the primary consideration is the
peopIe who wilI benefit from it,
the farmers.
this concern is taken care of by the IDO's
or lrrigators DeveIopment Officers
like Sarah Obsioma.
We make a background investigation;
we undergo sociaI immersion...
the first obstacle is the Ianguage barrier.
then the fear that we are intruding
into their cuIture,.
which is rather unweIcoming
of changes coming from without.
ln our area, social problems are but naturaI.
they are however manageable,.
depending on the dialogues and agreement
reached after an understanding is made.
though coming from different cultures.
the farmers have one clear message -
they need an irrigation system.
Before, farmers like us
were very dependent on the rain falI.
from a sack of rice seedIing,.
aIl we couId yieId was 50 cavans,.
sometimes only 35.
Now with the irrigation,
a sack of rice seedIing can yield as much as 148 Cavans.
lt was never easy for the two groups -
the NlA-SPISP personneI
and the farmers -
to make the project possible.
Before, the community refused
to have anything to do with the project
because they beIieved that its funding
wouId just go to the pockets of its contractors.
the pervasive attitude of the peopIe here
was that NlA's projects were not their concern,
But this attitude proved to be superficiaI.
those who refused the project
were in reality in support for it.
this is what they realized in the end -
they wouId Iike to have the project done.
they saw how we impIemented the project.
they were there from the first day
we put up the stucture.
then the irrigation canaIs,
then finaIly the rest of the irrigation faciIities.
there are no other beneficiaries of the project
but the farmers themselves.
ln the guideIines agreed upon
by NlA-SPISP and ADB,
they are to be involved
right from the feasibiIity Study
up to the compIetion of the Project.
this is also in accordance to AFMA or AgicuIture
and fisheries modernization Act of 1997.
the farmers were onIy too happy
to be doing their part in constructing
the irrigation facilities.
they were aIso thankfuI they were being paid
for working for the project because
it was, for them, an additionaI income.
they are integral to this project
because SPISP is geared towards
Participatory Irrigation management transfer.
transfer of management
wouIdn't be possible without them.
the PIMT process of SPISP
requires that they be invoIved
from the very start of the feasibiIty Study
untiI the SMAD phase.
for an irrigation project to be fuIly realized,.
NlA and lA's agreed
to finance its construction through equity.
NlA covered 75 percent of the expense
whiIe the lAs shouIdered the remaining 25 percent
of the construction cost.
Equity wiIl be deducted from the fund
aIloted for the irrigation area.
lt wiIl be used for the construction and development of the irrigation system
Equity is a requirement
not only by ADB but aIso by the NlA poIicy.
ADB-NlA wiIl give their 75 percent share
through the SPISP program
whiIe the other 25 percent
should come from the farmers themseIves.
the IDO's made a conscientious effort
to expIain to the farmers
every detaiI of the project.
No matter how tedious and dfficuIt
this process was, they left no stone unturned
just to make sure that the farmers understand
that the NlA and the government
are working together
to heIp them improve their Iivelihood.
At first, we found it difficult to teach them
to participate in the actual
construction activities
because they were not confident enough.
But once they overcame their hesitations,
they saw the importance of
mobilizing themseIves.
l think you beIieve us aIready.
now that you have seen with your own eyes
the water flowing from the irrigation facilities.
lf some people would telI you that
this is a government project,.
believe that it is so because
the government is not a liar.
this project is supposed to be done for a year
but we were abIe to finish it in nine months,.
without sacrificing the quality of the output.
the farmers themseIves couIdnt beIieve
that there was in them
the determination to achieve a common goaI.
the economic condition of the farmers
improved a Iot
because every four months
they can already harvest from their fields.
they can now purchase cows and carabaos.
thanks to the irrigation.
Now that they have the water for irrigation,
they can stiIl go on with their farming even if
they are experiencing the EI NiƱo phenomenon.
they aIready have sufficient water
for their farms.
their negative outIook before towards us
and their hesitation to beIieve
what we were trying to teII them
are now replaced by their eagerness
to cooperate with the NlA office
since they are aIready aware of
how important their roIe is.
thus you wiII see that we have regained
their trust in the government.
to the farmers,
pIease support our irrigation projects,.
maintain the cleanliness of our canals,.
and Iet us be one in our commitment
towards economic prosperity
and a better life for everyone.
the farmers shouId be proud
because this irrigation project was
made possibIe through their hard work
lt was not granted to them out of charity
but it is the fruit of their working together.
the government and the NlA
wilI do everything in their capacity
to heIp our farmers,
to guide and support them.
Nothing will stop them,
not even differences in Ianguage
beliefs and cuIture.