The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) has been urged to return to detailed, itemized budgeting for its irrigation projects, with officials warning that opaque allocations worth billions of pesos could fuel inefficiency and misuse.

During a Senate budget hearing on the NIA’s proposed 2026 budget, Senator Win Gatchalian voiced concern over the agency’s recent practice of consolidating irrigation system allocations into large, undifferentiated sums, departing from previous years when projects were clearly itemized in the General Appropriations Act (GAA).

“The more details we have, the better for transparency,” Gatchalian said, pointing out that both national and communal irrigation systems were lumped into two large budget items in 2024 and 2025.

In 2024, P22.2 billion was allocated for national systems, while P6.7 billion went to communal systems. In 2025, the same practice continued with P8.2 billion and P3.8 billion, respectively.

The senator also flagged a significant increase in funding under NIA’s Establishment of Pump Irrigation Projects (EPIP) in 2024. Initially proposed at P1.72 billion in the National Expenditure Program (NEP), the amount ballooned to P18.31 billion in the House-approved General Appropriations Bill (GAB), and was eventually enacted into law at P18.61 billion.

The NIA defended the increase, citing the need to mitigate the impacts of the projected El Niño-induced dry spell that year.

However, Gatchalian emphasized that such a large and sudden change in funding must be backed by clear documentation and align strategically with NIA’s master plan.

Gatchalian emphasized that itemized budgeting is crucial not just for transparency, but also for aligning with national priorities, optimizing resource use, and ensuring accountability in infrastructure development.

He urged the agency to provide a comprehensive breakdown of its planned projects moving forward and to institutionalize more transparent budgeting practices in time for the 2026 national budget deliberations.