DA creates farm-to-market roads transparency portal

The Department of Agriculture (DA) has created a website where the public can access details and monitor the progress of farm-to-market roads (FMR) as part of its transparency initiative following its takeover of the implementation of the infrastructure projects from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

 

The Department of Agriculture is set to launch a transparency portal for farm-to-market roads projects. pic.twitter.com/MCac2gDKpM

— Ted Cordero (@Ted_Cordero) January 8, 2026

At a press conference in Quezon City on Thursday, DA spokesperson Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa and Bureau of Agricultural and Fisheries Engineering Director Cristy Polido unveiled the “FMR Watch” Transparency Portal which can be accessed at

The Department of Agriculture is set to launch a transparency portal for farm-to-market roads projects. pic.twitter.com/MCac2gDKpM

— Ted Cordero (@Ted_Cordero) January 8, 2026 " target="_blank">https://fmrwatch.bafe.gov.ph.

 

“We all know that the DA will now be the main implementing agency for the FMRs starting this year… So this is going to be the website for that which will be open to the public. All details of the projects will be shown in the portal,” de Mesa said.

The portal is currently accessible in beta version.

Polido said the final version of the portal is targeted to be launched in February.

She said that the portal is part of Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr.’s “advocacy for transparency and accountability in the implementation of FMRs.”

Apart from data on the progress of FMRs, the public can also upload complaints through the portal, according to the BAFE director.

Under the 2026 General Appropriations Act (GAA), the DA gets an allocation of P33 billion to implement FMR projects all over the country.

Polido said that the budget allocation would cover about 1,600 new FMRs to be implemented this year.

She said that the portal’s creation is “just reflecting the readiness of the DA to indeed implement FMRs.”

Transparency

The DA is also planning to livestream the bidding for FMR projects as part of its transparency initiative.

De Mesa, for his part, said that while the DA, through the BAFE, will be the main implementing agency for FMRs, the Agriculture Department could still enter into a memorandum of agreement with local government units or the DPWH in areas “where the DA has limitations in implementation.”

Based on the data available on the transparency portal, the total investment for FMRs from 2021 to 2025 reached P76.52 billion covering 4,810 projects, of which 3,135 were completed with a total length of 2,399.85 kilometers.

The portal also showed that FMRs benefited 721,500 farmers, connected 2,400 communities across the country, helped in transporting 240,000 tons of agricultural products, and saved about 7,800 hours in transportation time.

Last month, the DA said that the Philippines still has a backlog of around 60,000 kilometers of FMR projects.

As to “ghost FMRs,” de Mesa said that the issue was an “isolated case” that is mostly in Davao Occidental.

He earlier said that only seven were identified as “ghost FMR projects.”

During the briefing, de Mesa said the DA is set to release the results of the FMRs audit within the first quarter of this year.

FMRs are designed to link agriculture and fisheries production areas, coastal landing sites, and post-harvest facilities to markets and major highways.

These roads are intended to reduce transport and production costs for farmers, enabling them to earn higher prices and increase their incomes. —AOL/ VAL, GMA Integrated News