THE Rio Verde Water Consortium has denied any hand in the reported drop in rice production in Baungon town as alleged by lawyer Ernie Palanan, spokesman of a farmers group in Bukidnon.
In a statement, Rio Verde management questioned the motive of Palanan and said the latter's accusations were baseless, distorted and maliciously taken out of context.
In a news report, Palanan blamed the National Irrigation Administration in Northern Mindanao (NIA-10) and Rio Verde for the failure of irrigation services to sustain rice farming in Baungon, Bukidnon.
Rio Verde said that its contract with NIA was concluded on December 31, 2017. It further pointed out that from the start of the agreement in 2013, there has been no reported shortage of water provided by NIA to the farmers.
"To put the blame on Rio Verde on the alleged rice production shortage in Bukidnon is unfounded with malicious intent," the statement said.
According to Rio Verde, it buys only 1,667 cubic meters of water per day from NIA at 17 centavos per cubic meter. The volume of water flowing in the Bubunawan river is 79,200 cubic meter per hour.
"Rio Verde is only extracting two percent of the available water flowing along the Bubunawan river," it says.
But Palanan for his part, maintained that the farmers' complaint is verified.
"I'm just a messenger representing my farmer neighbors, because I also live in Baungon. They always say that there are no actual complaints filed against them but NIA should go to the area and ask the farmers themselves," he said.
"They want to project that it was taken out of context but the actual interviews of farmers say otherwise," he said.
Palanan said he felt obliged to report the plight of the farmers who were promised by this administration that rice production shall increase and irrigation shall be free of charge.
