On May 22, 2026, at Barangay Caridad, Hamtic, Antique the NIA – Antique Irrigation Management Office launched the Gulayan sa Patubigan Program with nine (9) Irrigators’ Associations in the province of Antique, in support of the government’s food security program.
The initiative was introduced to three National Irrigation System (NIS) associations: CASIBO South IA, SIHAMSA North IA, and BISTO IA, and six Communal Irrigation System (CIS) associations: Caridad Hamtic IA, Bugo San Remigio IA, Bugasong FISA, Lisub A Anini-y IA, Tan-agan Sibalom IA, and Ysulat Tobias Fornier IA.
Through this program, available spaces near canal structures and irrigation facilities will be utilized for vegetable gardening. These areas, which once served mainly as part of irrigation structures, will now become productive spaces that can help provide additional food sources and income for farmers and their communities.
On behalf of Engr. Bernard N. Castellano, Division Manager of NIA Antique IMO, Engr. Lalaine M. Selerio, Engineering and Operations Section Chief led the activity. Also present were Mr. Emerson Ogatis from the Department of Agriculture – Regional Office VI, Ms. Nancy Corazon Montecastro, Supervising Agriculturist from the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA), Mr. Isidro Ramos from the Office of the Municipal Agriculturist of Hamtic, and representatives from the Barangay Local Government Unit of Caridad, Hamtic.
More than a gardening activity, the Gulayan sa Patubigan Program reflects the continuing effort to make irrigation communities more productive, sustainable, and food-secure. With the cooperation of partner agencies, local government units, and IAs, the program shows how simple spaces near waterways can be transformed into sources of nourishment and hope.
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