DA commits to take over farm-to-market road projects

The Department of Agriculture is taking the lead in the construction of farm-to-market roads after it was revealed in a Senate hearing that some projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways were allegedly overpriced.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. made the commitment during the Senate Committee on Finance’s continuation of its deliberations on the proposed 2026 budget of the DA and attached agencies and corporations. 

“At the last Senate hearing on the Department of Agriculture’s 2026 budget, we were issued a direct challenge—to take charge of farm-to-market road projects ourselves, rather than leave them in the hands of the Department of Public Works and Highways," Tiu Laurel said.

"The concern, as rightly pointed out by the committee chair, lies in the troubling pattern of overpricing and alleged corruption in past infrastructure efforts,” he added.

“Instinct tells us to steer clear, to play it safe. But this is no time for hesitation. The Senate has drawn the line—take on the task, or lose the budget. And so, after consultation with the DA family, we rise to meet the moment,” Tiu Laurel.

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, on Wednesday tagged as overpriced the FMR projects in 2023 and 2024, amounting to a total of P10.3 billion. 

The standard cost for FMRs, as set by the DPWH, is typically at P15,000 per meter, and could even go as low as P10,000 per meter.

According to Gatchalian, an ongoing project in Barangay San Roque in Tacloban City, Leyte is considered the most overpriced project, costing P348,432 per meter. 

Tiu Laurel said that the billions-worth of suspicious FMR projects stretching to 70,000 kilometers were already flagged by the DA and considered as “ghost or semi-ghost projects.”

“This amount is enough to construct a two-lane highway from Manila to Aparri. This is no minor discrepancy. These are roads the nation paid for—yet many of our farmers have yet to walk on them,” the DA chief said. 

“If we’re going to build roads, they must lead to farms, not fraud,” he added. 

Tiu Laurel also vowed to coordinate with local governments, farmers’ groups, and independent auditors and third-party surveyors as they take charge of the FMR projects. –NB, GMA Integrated News