Marcos: Gov't to reduce farm-to-market road costs for 2026

President Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr. on Thursday announced that the government will lower the costs of the farm-to-market (FMR) roads for 2026, following the revelation that there were “ghost” and overpriced projects in the previous years.

In his departure statement for his official visit to South Korea for the 32nd APEC Summit, Marcos said that the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is now aligning its project costs with real market prices and reducing these by up to 50%.

“It will not be limited to the public works but shall be the norm across government. We are reducing costs for 2026 of the FMRs, the irrigation, classrooms, and hospitals,” the President said.

“So, let me be clear—the quality of what we build will not be compromised. The only thing weakened will be corruption. This is the accountability our citizens deserve,” he emphasized.

Marcos said that relevant government agencies such as the Department of Agriculture (DA), National Irrigation Administration (NIA), Department of Education (DepEd), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Health (DOH), and Department of Transportation (DOTr) shall immediately follow the same pricing system that will be set by the DPWH.

“The savings we secure will go where they matter most—to programs that uplift families, support livelihoods, and strengthen communities. Because when our people grow in capability and confidence, the nation grows with them,” he said.

“A government that honors public trust, a nation that stands firm on integrity, this is our promise. A real change for every Filipino today and for generations to come,” he added.

To recall, 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.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate committee on finance, earlier 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.

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.”

The DA earlier submitted to Marcos the results of its initial audit on FMR road projects, where it was found that seven projects in Davao Occidental were tagged as completed but no roads were actually found.

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

Gatchalian on Monday also revealed that the proposed budget for FMR projects ballooned from P16 billion in the 2026 National Expenditure Program (NEP) to P32.6 billion in the House of Representatives' approved version of the 2026 General Appropriations Bill (GAB). — RSJ, GMA Integrated News