Report on P105-M ‘ghost’ farm-to-market road projects sent to Marcos - DA

The Department of Agriculture (DA) has already submitted to President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. the results of its initial audit on farm-to-market (FMR) road projects.

Interviewed on Super Radyo dzBB, DA spokesperson Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa said the agency’s audit found that seven FMR projects in Davao Occidental were tagged as completed “pero wala talagang kalsada (but there is no road actually).”

De Mesa said the seven “ghost” FMR projects cost about P105 million, supposedly undertaken from 2021 to 2023.

He said the DA’s audit focused on FMR projects that were reportedly completed but nowhere to be found.

“Kunwari completed pero sa amin wala kaming nakitang kalsada (It was supposedly completed, but we did not see any actual road),” the DA spokesperson said.

De Mesa said that the DA submitted the findings of its initial audit to the President and provided a copy to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

On Friday, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. committed to undertaking the construction of FMR projects after it was revealed in a Senate hearing that some projects of the DPWH were allegedly overpriced. 

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

“If we’re going to build roads, they must lead to farms, not fraud,” he said. —VBL, GMA Integrated News