DA sues DPWH execs, contractors over alleged P94-M ghost farm-to-market roads

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel, Jr. filed Thursday graft and malversation complaints against six officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in Davao Occidental and eight contractors over alleged P94-million ghost farm-to-market road projects.

The complaints were filed with the Office of the Ombudsman. This is the first time that the Department of Agriculture filed complaints over alleged anomalous farm-to-market road projects.

Tiu Laurel said he visited the supposed farm-to-market road projects last year and found nothing close to construction, even though they were funded way back in the 2021.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel, Jr. files graft and malversation complaints against six DPWH Davao Occ officials, eight contractors, over alleged ghost farm-to-market road projects worth P94 million @gmanews pic.twitter.com/1JmBTa7vYB

— Llanesca T. Panti (@llanescajourno) May 21, 2026

“Wala talaga. Zero. Wala kang makita (We saw nothing. You cannot see anything),” the DA chief told reporters after filing the complaint.

“Merong daanan, dirt road, dinadaanan ng tao, tricycle. Pero talagang walang semento. Walang bakal. Wala lahat,” he added.

(There is dirt road where people walk by, tricycles pass by. But there is no concrete. No steel. Nothing.)

Tiu Laurel said that as a result of these ghost projects, farmers in Davao Occidental have been unduly burdened.

“We went there and talked to the farmers, and they have been waiting for these roads for so long. Matagal na ipinangako sa kanila,” Tiu Laurel said.

The Agriculture chief then said that the farm-to-market roads would have cut the time needed to transport the farmers’ produce from one hour to as fast as 15 minutes.

“Matagal na nilang alam na napondohan pero hindi dumating. At ang request ngayon lang kung pwedeng palitan namin [ng contractor] para magamit nila at makakatulong talaga ito sa cost nila, logistics ng produkto nila. Pati ‘yung ginhawa…iba iyong oras [ng biyahe pag may farm-to-market road],” Tiu Laurel said.

(They know that these projects have long been funded, and these were promised to them, but it never came. And they are requesting that the contractors be changed so they can use it. It will really help reduce their production costs. Their time to transport the produce is also affected.)

“Ang oras, hindi natin mapapalitan (We cannot take back time),” Tiu Laurel added. —AOL, GMA News