Irrigation chief is Paracelis adopted son

Paracelis, Mt. Province—The National Irrigation Administration’s highest chief is now a son of this remote town of Mt. Province by virtue of a resolution of the Sangguniang Bayan.

NIA Administrator Antonio Nangel is now an adopted farmer’s son of Paracelis, Mt. Province during the Farmers’ Day Festival on April 23. He was given the name ‘Maduggay’, the town’s first successful farmer and the first to introduce irrigated farming. The NIA chief allotted P20 million for a farmers’ building and irrigation facilities for his new town. With the Administrator are NIA-CAR manager John Socalo, Paracelis Mayor Avelino Amangyen and DA-CAR Technical Director Danilo Daguio.

Resolution No. 2012-034 officially declared NIA Administrator Antonio Nangel as farmer’s son of the Municipality of Paracelis during this Farmer’s Day Festival on April 23, 2012 where the NIA chief was the guest speaker, in recognition of his exceptional leadership qualities and in appreciation of his concern for the Paracelis farmers.

NIA Administrator, now an adopted son of Paracelis and NIA-CAR Manager join the native folks and farmers as they dance their upbeat eagle dance.

According to the officialdom and farmers of Paracelis, the visit of the highest official of NIA to their far-flung place is a concrete demonstration of his sacrifice, willingness and commitment to serve the Filipino people especially the farmers of Paracelis.

Paracelis Mayor Avelino Amangyen gave the NIA administrator farmer’s native attires and a bolo used for ricefield clearing as tokens. The Administrator recalled that he first visited Paracelis in 1999.

After his adoption, Administrator Nangel committed that he will be allotting an additional P20 million aside from its 2012 allocation for what he now calls his new town for the construction of a farmer’s training center and several irrigation systems.

“Kayo pong mga magsasaka ang inspirasyon naming inyong mga anak upang magsikap,” Administrator Nangel told the Paracelis farmers. The NIA chief proudly shares that he is a son of both farmers in his native town in Nueva Ecija.

According to NIA-CAR Manager John Socalo, Paracelis has a total allocation of P132 million for this year, bulk of which will be for the initial implementation of the Upper Butigue Small Reservoir Irrigation Project, a DA-NIA irrigation project with a multi-year programmed implementation period. The P100 million allocation of Upper Butigue SRIP for this year was the commitment of Nangel during his visit to Mt. Province late last year.

When completed, the said project will boost irrigation development in Paracelis and benefit more than 700 farmers with its  1,700 hectares potential irrigable area. During the his visit to Paracelis, the Administrator also took some time to view and inspect the parts of the Upper Butigue SRIP service area and water source, the Siffu River.

On the way to his appointment with farmers of Paracelis, the NIA chief together with NIA-CAR and LGU staff inspected part of the potential 1,700 hectares serviceable area of the Upper Butigue SRIP, the biggest project of Mt. Province.

Amangyen said that the realization of the Upper Butigue project will allow Paracelis to be rice self-sufficient and may even supply other nearby areas. Aside from irrigation, the LGU and NIA will look into the other benefits from the projects which include hydro-power, aqua-culture, domestic water supply and recreational facilities from local tourism.