VETERAN newsman, Benny Antiporda, on Friday, July 29, 2022, formally assumes his post as administrator of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA), during a well-attended turn over and send-off ceremony for his predecessor, former Armed Forces chief of staff, Gen. Ricardo Visaya.
Prior to his appointment, Antiporda had also served as director of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) and undersecretary for solid waste management at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources under the Duterte administration (see Pinoy Exposé, July 26, 2022).
In his speech Antiporda heap praises on Visaya who assumed the top NIA post on March 2017, just several months after his retirement from the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Antiporda noted that it was Visaya who laid down “the strong foundation” of the agency that resulted to its record accomplishments during his term lasting for 5 years and 4 months.
Under the term of Visaya, the NIA achieved significant impacts with 7.95 percent increase in irrigation development.
A total of 382 solar-powered pump irrigation projects, 1 floating solar power project in Magat Dam, 6 operational hydroelectric power projects, 1,035,921 Free Irrigation Service Act (FISA) farmer-beneficiaries, 34 IA Model Farms nationwide, 3 flood forecasting and instrumentation section command centers in the Magat River Integrated Irrigation System (MARIIS), Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation Systems (UPRIIS), and at the NIA central office.
Visaya also started the agency’s ‘re-fleeting’ program that resulted to the acquisition of 220 new units of light and transport equipment, 57 units of heavy equipment, and 345 units of motor vehicle, that resulted to the faster completion of hundreds of irrigation projects nationwide.
In his message, Visaya expressed his gratitude for then President Duterte and to the agency for the opportunity of serving the Filipino farmers and the nation, as he also congratulated Antiporda on the latter’s selection by Pres. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., as his successor.
One of the highlights of the event was the “Legacy Walk” of the outgoing administrator to the office hallway filled with photos of his accomplishments in more than 5 years of public service excellence in NIA.