The Japanese government has turned over to the Philippines the Php115 million Dumacaa River Irrigation System that stands to benefit around 1,800 farmers in the municipality of Pagbilao and the cities of Lucena and Tayabas in Quezon province.
Embassy of Japan’s Economic Affairs Minister Nakata Masahiro led the turnover ceremony on Thursday, December 10, 2020, along with National Irrigation Administration (NIA) Senior Deputy Administrator Abraham Bagasin, Lucena City Mayor Rodrick Alcala, Tayabas City Mayor Ernida Reynoso, and Japan International Cooperation Agency- Philippines Chief Representative Azuzikawa Eigo.
The Dumacaa River Irrigation System is under the National Irrigation Sector Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (NISRIP), a monumental JPY6.187 billion Yen project that targets to rehabilitate 11 river irrigation systems RIS nationwide.
So far, four RIS including the Dumacaa RIS in Quezon have been completed.
Before the official turnover, ribbon-cutting ceremonies at the rehabilitated Alsam Dam in Tayabas City and the Irrigators’ Association (IA) Office and support facilities in Lucena City were also held.
The Dumacaa River subproject covers rehabilitation of the Alsam Dam that will restore around 1,839 hectares of service areas.
According to the Japanese Embassy, the Dumacaa Federation of Irrigators’ Associations will also be strengthened with the provision of four buildings with combined office and support facilities.
The irrigation project will be complemented with vital agricultural support, said the Japanese proponent, adding that all the interventions are “vital enablers to increase farm yield and productivity, accelerate farm income, and deliver growth in Quezon’s agricultural community.”
On Wednesday, the Embassy of Japan, the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in the Philippines turned over the Joint Peace and Security Teams (JPST) Station in Pikit, North Cotabato to the Joint Peace and Security Committee (JPSC) as part of the collective multi-stakeholder efforts to maintain peace and stability in the area.
The JPST Stations serve as the barracks and the command posts of the JPSTs—30-man operating units composed of contingents from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the Philippine National Police (PNP), and Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s (MILF) Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF) that have trained together to maintain transitional security in areas mutually selected by the Philippines government and the MILF to aid the interim period of the peace process in the Bangsamoro region.