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Villar leads deliberation on NIA budget: Sen. Cynthia Villar, chair of the Committee on Agriculture and Food, presided over the Committee on Finance subcommittee hearing on the P37.6 billion proposed budget of the National Irrigation Authority (NIA) for 2019. The proposed amount is 11 percent lower than last year's budget. During the hearing, Villar asked NIA Administrator Ricardo Visaya how he intends to repair irrigation facilities affected by Typhoon Ompong and the Habagat when the agency's P500-million Quick Response Fund has already been used up. Visaya said upon consolidation of reports from the Cordillera Autonomous Region, Region 1 and Region 2, they will ask the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council to release the needed P2 billion. The budget hearing was also attended by Minority Leader Franklin Drilon.