DA discovers P75-M 'ghost' farm-to-market roads in Mindanao

The Department of Agriculture has discovered alleged ''ghost'' farm-to-market roads worth P75 million in Mindanao, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said Tuesday.

In an interview on Super Radyo dzBB, Tiu Laurel said it seems that what the DA had discovered was an isolated case.

''Sa ngayon initial reports pa lang at hindi naman ganoon kalaki in terms of the whole FMR projects, isolated case pa ang nakita namin sa Region XI at meron din sa may Zamboanga City,'' Tiu Laurel said.

(At present, we only have initial reports and it's not that huge in terms of the whole FMR projects, what we discovered in Region X1 and in Zamboanga City were isolated cases.)

''We’re talking about maybe five kilometers ang nakikita namin, 'yun pa lang so initial pa lang to. ‘Yung value noon nasa P75 million siguro,'' he added.

(We're talking about maybe five kilometers, this is just initial information. The value is around P75 million.)

He said the project was from 2021 to 2022, noting that the DA is still digging deeper into the issue. Tiu Laurel said the agency had identified the ''small'' contractors involved in the project.

Tiu Laurel said the contractor was not part of the 15 huge contractors, which was initially disclosed by President Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr., that bagged most flood control projects in the country.

''Ah wala, per kilometer nito nasa P15 million lang eh, this is a very small contract,'' Tiu Laurel said.

(It's not on the list, the amount per kilometer was around P15 million, this is a very small contract.) 

For the DA chief, this was also not an ''insertion'' in the budget.

''I don't think this is an insertion, nasa GAA namin to basically...but of course implementing agency nito DPWH,'' he said, noting that he already coordinated with Public Works and Highways Secretary Vince Dizon regarding the issue.

Tiu Laurel said he already informed the President about the matter and he will formally submit a report on Wednesday, October 1.

''Nainform ko na verbally si Presidente tungkol diyan and I'll have a formal report submitted tomorrow to the Office of the President. Initial findings lang,'' he said.

(I've already informed the President about this and I'll have a formal report submitted tomorrow to the Office of the President.)

Malacañang on Tuesday said that the alleged "ghost" farm-to-market road projects are being looked into by the administration.

''Katulad po ng sinabi natin, lahat ng mga ganitong klase na may anomalya, hindi lamang po sa flood control projects kung hindi sa lahat ng infrastructure, iyan po ay tututukan," she added. 

(Like what we said, these anomalies, not just the flood control projects, must be looked into.) 

To recall, Tiu Laurel had initiated a sweeping audit of all FMR projects since 2021. The audit is targeted to be completed by the end of the year. 

He earlier explained that FMR projects are identified and validated by the DA, but are commissioned, bid out, and constructed by the DPWH. —AOL, GMA Integrated News