DA accepts Senate challenge on farm-to-market roads

The Department of Agriculture (DA) has agreed to assume responsibility for farm-to-market road (FMR) construction, signaling a major policy shift intended to boost efficiency and curb corruption in agricultural infrastructure spending.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr. said the agency has accepted the Senate’s challenge to directly oversee FMR projects — a task long handled by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). The move follows mounting concerns over alleged fund misuse in previous DPWH-led projects.

“At the last Senate hearing on the Department of Agriculture’s 2026 budget, we were issued a direct challenge: to take charge of farm-to-market road projects ourselves,” Tiu Laurel said during a budget hearing before the Senate Committee on Finance on Friday.

“Instinct tells us to steer clear. To play it safe. But this is no time for hesitation… and so, we rise to meet the moment.”

Finance Committee Chair Senator Win Gatchalian earlier flagged possible overpricing of up to P10 billion in the construction of 70,000 kilometers of roads.

“These are roads the nation paid for—yet many of our farmers have yet to walk on them,” he said.

Gatchalian welcomed the DA’s decision, saying Tiu Laurel’s private sector background could help reduce project costs and improve oversight.

“More importantly, this will make it easier to establish accountability… not just within the DA, but across all involved agencies,” he said.

Senator Kiko Pangilinan, chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food, lauded the DA’s plan to integrate a citizen participatory audit into the process, calling it a step toward greater transparency.

“Hopefully, moving forward we can make the most out of every peso allocated to the DA and its attached agencies, and ensure that it is money well spent,” he said.

Tiu Laurel emphasized that the DA would coordinate with local government units, farmers’ groups, and third-party auditors to ensure integrity and public accountability.

“This mandate is too large, too critical, and too prone to misuse to be entrusted to a single agency,” he said.

“Para sa bayan, hindi namin tatalikuran ang hamon ng panahon.”

The decision underscores a strategic shift in the government’s approach to rural infrastructure — one that seeks to realign resources toward genuine agricultural productivity while addressing governance lapses that have eroded public trust.