Luzon-wide NIA revamp completed

CABANATUAN CITY — The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) has announced the completion of its top-level revamp with the re-assignment of seven agency officials, including four regional executives, in Luzon.

The revamp included Antonio Nangel, the operations manager of the Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation Systems (UPRIIS), the country’s largest irrigation system and operator of the mammoth Pantabangan Dam.

The six others were Leodencio Baraquio, Vicente Galvez, Manuel Collado and Baltazar Usis, regional irrigation managers (RIMs) of Regions 1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively; Systems Management Department (SMD) manager Edilberto Payawal; and engineer Reynaldo Puno, chief of the Talavera, Nueva Ecija-based UPRIIS District 2.

Nangel was designated as officer-in-charge of Region 2 based in Cauayan, Isabela, replacing Galvez who was designated RIM for Region 1.

Baraquio was designated as Galvez’s adviser. Nangel was replaced by Puno who would assume his post on Monday.

Collado was re-assigned to the SMD, replacing Payawal who was assigned as RIM for the Pila, Laguna-based Region 4 office.

Usis, for his part, was assigned to Region 3 based in San Rafael, Bulacan, replacing Collado.

The re-assignment of the seven NIA officials was contained in Office Memorandum Nos. 66 and 67 issued by NIA administrator Proceso Domingo and which took effect last July 4.

In his memoranda, Domingo said the re-assignment was in the best interest of the service, adding that it was neither a punitive action nor due to loss of trust in the administrative and management capabilities of the seven officials.

Domingo said the NIA is in the process of re-engineering its management system.

He said the re-assignment of the seven Luzon officials was, in fact, the last in a three-tiered revamp implemented by his office; the earlier reshuffle affected the seven regional offices in the Visayas and Mindanao.

"In fact, this reshuffle was conceived as early as the tenure of my predecessor, Administrator (Jesus Emmanuel) Paras. It was long agreed upon and was twice postponed. It is only now that it is being implemented," Domingo said.

He was reacting to complaints from one of the RIMs that the reshuffle might affect the agency’s operations.

Domingo said some NIA officials might have had their own comfort zones, which explains why they were reluctant to go.

But he said NIA officials who have performed well in their previous assignments should share their expertise with the other regions.