Former National Irrigation Administration (NIA) Region 10 staff and whistleblower Niruh Kyle Antatico was shot dead in broad daylight on October 10 after exposing alleged corruption and irregularities in irrigation projects.
Antatico drew public attention in recent weeks after posting on social media about supposed “ghost projects” and fund misuse within NIA-10, including alleged anomalies in bidding and program implementation. Reports said he had been receiving death threats prior to the killing.
In an exclusive interview with Dos Por Dos, NIA Administrator Engr. Eduardo Guillen expressed condolences to Antatico’s family and confirmed that the agency has sought assistance from law enforcement agencies to help resolve the case swiftly.
“Sumulat po kami sa PNP at nagpapatulong din tayo sa NBI para po sana sa maagang pagkaresolba ng kaso. Si Kyle ay anak din ng dating empleyado ng NIA. Kami po ay nakikiramay sa nangyari kay Kyle,” Guillen said.
Guillen also shared that a reward money amounting to Php 100,000 is being prepared by the agency to any person who furnishes information that will lead directly to the identification, arrest and successful prosecution of the perpetrators. The reward will be given in accordance with guidelines to be jointly agreed upon by NIA and the PNP, ensuring confidentiality and protection for informants.
Guillen clarified that the projects mentioned in Antatico’s posts were “Maging Projects” — irrigation works that were bid out and implemented between 2020 and 2022 under the previous administration.
“[Ang ibinunyag niya] ay ang mga projects na Maging Projects. Bidded po ito noong 2020 and 2022, so ang pag-prepare ng bid, nadatnan na po natin. Tayo naman ay nagpaimbestiga noon,” Guillen explained.
Legit Projects
The NIA chief said the agency had already reviewed the projects flagged by Antatico and found that most were legitimate, except for one that suffered damage during a 2023 typhoon.
“Ito po ay bidded and implemented at ginawan ng program of work ng previous admin. Sa mga unang report sa atin, okay naman po maliban sa isa. Nagkaroon ng damage noong 2023, typhoon damage. Unfortunately, noong 2023, wala pong QRF ang NIA. Hindi naayos kaagad. Pero noong nagkaroon ng pondo, napa-repair naman po ito,” Guillen said.
He added that the NIA ensures transparency in project implementation through the participation of irrigators’ associations, which help inspect the infrastructure before signing off on completion reports.
“Pinatignan po natin ito. Wala naman katibayan iyon. Mahigpit po ang NIA pagdating po sa ganitong projects. Kasama po talaga namin ang irrigators’ association. Sila mismo ang nag-iinspect,” he added.
Unfair Accusations
Guillen maintained that the accusations hurled against the current NIA leadership were “unfair,” emphasizing that the agency’s present administration was not responsible for the bidding and initial implementation of the projects in question.
“Medyo unfair ang accusations sa atin dahil hindi naman po kami ang nagpa-bid at nag-implement. Medyo nasaktan din po ang NIA, kaya lang hindi po tayo sumasagot sa social media ng ganiyan,” he said.
He also stressed that under his term, there have been no ghost projects within the agency.
“During our administration, I can assure you there are no ghost projects. In the last administration, if the ‘Green Book’ procedures were followed, then that would have been very unlikely,” Guillen said.
Guillen is hopeful that the PNP and other law enforcement agencies will swiftly act towards this unjust incident.
"We trust that the PNP and other law enforcement agencies will swiftly bring the perpetrators to account and send a strong message that attacks on public servants will not go unpunished," he said in a letter sent to the PNP.
