ILOILO City – The Western Visayas manager of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA), Engineer Gerardo Corsiga, died of a lingering illness at a hospital in Tacloban City on Saturday. He was 58.
NIA Region 6 announced Corsiga’s passing on Facebook yesterday. It hailed him “a great leader, tireless and diligent.”
As regional manager of NIA-6, Corsiga was at the helm of ensuring the operation of nine National Irrigation Systems covering a total area of 53,935.08 hectares, and 782 Communal Irrigation Systems with a combined service are of 39,035.13 hectares, improving harvest, and quality of life for 63,861 farmers in Western Visayas.
He was also the concurrent project manager of the P11.2-billion Jalaur River Multipurpose Project (JRMP) 2 in Calinog, Iloilo – the biggest water reservoir outside Luzon when finally completed.
“For some, you were more than a boss: you were a mentor, a father. Despite this overwhelming sadness, we will always be grateful for your unique brand of leadership that brought our agency to where we are today. You are a great loss to NIA Region 6 and JRMP 2 but we will make sure that your legacy lives on,” read NIA-6’s Facebook post.
Last month, Corsiga was feted by the Civil Service Commission (CSC) as Regional CSC Pagasa Awardee for 2020.
As a developmental leader, Corsiga had been wearing many hats – a skilled planner and designer, a constructor, a farmer, and an advisor.
But on top of these all, according to the CSC, Corsiga identified himself as a “katuwang sa kauswagan” (partner in progress).
This was embodied in his brand of leadership which was reflective and responsive to the development needs of his subordinates, and the stakeholders of NIA-6. He opened the doors of his agency to all stakeholders, especially the Ilonggo farmers and indigenous peoples he considered as partners in the war against poverty, and in ending local armed conflicts.
Corsiga’s leadership and resource mobilization skills led to the realization of the JRMP 2 – a dream irrigation development project in the province of Iloilo stalled for more than 50 years but now on the implementation stage.
Believing that infrastructure projects should not just be technically sound, Corsiga institutionalized the Environmental and Social Safeguards in project implementation. For him, a development project should not only enhance the technical capacity of NIA to construct irrigation structures but should also increase the agency’s effectiveness and efficiency in improving environmental and social conditions through proper impact assessment and management.
Another legacy left by Corsiga is the Bago River Irrigation System Improvement Project. He was its project manager before he became regional manager of NIA-6./PN
