The Mindanao Water Supply Program, which aims to provide water to towns and villages in Mindanao for both irrigation and drinking, is a model of how the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA), even with its very little budget, serves the needs of the people of Mindanao.
As in all other programs, I conceptualized the Mindanao Water Supply Program when I moved to the MinDA last year from the Department of Agriculture.
The program is intended to address the needs of remote villages, even old towns, for safe drinking water and irrigation to improve their productivity.
Since wala namang pera ang MinDA, MinDAWater was designed in such a way that the village or the town will be asked to fund the project themselves by availing of loans from MinDA’s banking partner, the Development Bank of the Philippines.
MinDA’s partnership with DBP was started by my predecessor, the late Datu Abul Khayr Alonto, and I consider this a masterstroke because it gave MinDA the financial muscle to initiate projects.
The concept is simple: MinDA identifies the local government units needing water systems for irrigation and drinking and we help them craft a master plan then package a loan which is submitted to DBP.
This is not a difficult process because LGUs have the Internal Revenue Allocation (IRA) which they receive as share from the national government.
To recover the LGUs investments, MinDA provides technical assistance in establishing an Economic Enterprise Office which will run the Water and Irrigation System as a business and collect fees.
The fees collected will then be paid back to DBP for a period of 15 years by which time, a study conducted by MinDA showed, the loan would have been repaid plus interests.
When MinDAWater was launched as a joint program of MinDA, DILG-LGU and DBP on Dec. 6, 2019, the first town to come forward was Taraka, Lanao del Sur.
Located in the periphery of Lake Lanao, the people of Taraka relied on the small river which meanders through the town proper for everything that they need – drinking, washing, bathing and others.
While farmers gaze daily at the huge body of water of Lake Lanao, their rice farms are not irrigated and they could only plant and harvest once a year.
In March this year, DBP approved a P215-M loan for Taraka for the a Solar-Powered Water System which would provide safe drinking water for the town’s residents.
Also covered by the loan are six Solar-Powered Irrigation Systems (SPIS) which will irrigate an estimated 1,000-hectares of rice farms and allow farmers to plant at least twice every year.
How much did MinDA spend from its own funds?
Very minimal and the financial assistance was mainly for the conduct of a household survey to establish a database for all of Taraka’s residents.
MinDA also provided financial assistance from its meager budget for the establishment of the learning center in the town where farmers will be trained on how to raise ducks, goats, chicken and plant rice properly.
Even with the COVID 19 Pandemic, which restricted the travel of other workers in government, MinDA’s workers have continued focusing on Taraka because it serves as our model in governance through self-reliance.
Today, other local government units are lining up to be included in the list of communities where the MinDAWater Program is needed.
Our greatest accomplishment here is spreading a new philosophy in governance – Self Reliance through Economic Enterprise.
#KungGustoMaramingParaan!
#GovernanceIsCommonSense!
#whenheartbeatsbrainworks!
(Infographics and photos were produced by the MinDA Media Team and the Public Relations Division.)
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