Pangilinan flags ‘changes’ in P33B funding for farm-to-market roads in 2026

Senator Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan has expressed his concern over alleged changes in the P33-billion proposed budget for the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) farm-to-market road (FMR) projects, which now reportedly include billions’ worth of unvalidated infrastructure projects.

On X (formerly Twitter) Monday evening, Pangilinan said the DA-FMR budget was allegedly altered to include a new list of FMRs that “have yet to be validated, determined as feasible, and properly identified with coordinates.”

“To recall, both the NIA [National Irrigation Administration] and DA FMR budgets, when approved on third reading in the Senate, included attached annexes detailing the itemized projects with corresponding coordinates—a necessary step to promote transparency and accountability,” Pangilinan said.

The senator said that once the bicameral conference committee (bicam) resumes its meetings, he will ask the DA to list the added projects and indicate their coordinates, including start and end points.

He will also request that the FMRs be properly geo-tagged.

“Otherwise, the Senate panel will be constrained to ask for a reconsideration of the approval of these new items and for the corresponding amounts pertaining to these unidentified FMR projects to be deducted from the DA budget,” he said.

“We are likewise reviewing the NIA budget, which is yet to be tackled in bicam, for similar items, if any,” Pangilinan added.

The bicameral conference committee, composed of members from the Senate and the House of Representatives, convened on Saturday, December 13, to reconcile the disagreeing provisions of the proposed P6.793-trillion national budget for 2026.

Over the weekend, the bicam approved the P33-billion budget for the DA’s FMR projects, though not without reservations from other lawmakers.

Senators Imee Marcos, Pia Cayetano, Loren Legarda, and Erwin Tulfo voiced concerns over the move to double the FMR budget from the P16-billion allocation in the National Expenditure Program (NEP).

Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo "Ping" Lacson also warned he would not sign the 2026 budget bicam report unless the provisions allocating billions to the FMRs are corrected.

Lacson earlier cautioned that a reenacted budget for 2026 could be necessary if the DA fails to explain the additional FMRs on time. Under such conditions, the government would operate under the P6.326-trillion budget for 2025, which he previously described as the “most corrupt” in the country’s history.

“Kapag kinapos sa oras. Kasi kapag hindi kayang ipaliwanag at hanggat di ma-correct ng DA ang kanilang pinalitan na at least P5 billion-worth na farm-to-market roads, eh baka gahulin sa oras,” Lacson said in an interview on "Balitanghali" Tuesday.

(We may operate on a reenacted budget if we cannot ratify the budget on time. If the DA cannot correct and explain the P5-billion increase in their FMR projects immediately, we may not have sufficient time.)

During the bicam hearings, Pangilinan proposed safeguards to address concerns, including a dashboard displaying the technical coordinates of implemented FMRs, and the involvement of local government units and the private sector in the projects.

The DA had earlier launched an FMR Watch platform, where the public can upload photos, report project progress, and flag issues directly from construction sites.

In November, the platform flagged eight “missing” FMRs in Davao Occidental, totaling around P100 million funded between 2021 and 2023 but never built, according to an initial audit report.—MCG, GMA Integrated News