House probe into overpriced farm-to-market roads sought

House probe into overpriced farm-to-market roads sought | Daily Tribune

Members of the House minority bloc are calling for an immediate investigation into reports of overpricing and possible fraud in the construction of farm-to-market roads (FMRs), previously handled by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) before the program was recently transferred to the Department of Agriculture (DA).

House Resolution 421, filed by ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio, Gabriela Rep. Sarah Elago, and Kabataan Rep. Renee Co, cited findings from the office of Senator Win Gatchalian, which flagged a staggering P10 billion worth of “extremely overpriced” FMRs funded under the 2023 and 2024 General Appropriations Acts.

One of the most glaring examples, according to the resolution, was the concreting of Barangay San Roque FMR Phase 2 in Tacloban City, Leyte—estimated at P100 million for only 0.287 kilometers, or roughly P348,432 per meter, under last year’s budget. Similar instances of inflated costs were also identified in Bulacan, Albay, Camarines Sur, and Eastern Samar.

According to the DA’s network plan, the national average cost of FMR construction was pegged at P9.48 million per kilometer. However, based on the DA’s proposed base budget, the price per kilometer rose to P15.91 million—an apparent overpricing of P6.43 million per kilometer.

The FMR network plan was co-developed and finalized in June 2023 by the DA, DPWH, and the Departments of the Interior and Local Government, Trade and Industry, and Tourism, while President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was still serving as Agriculture Secretary.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. attributed the inflated P15.91 million-per-kilometer estimate to the DPWH, which he said had drawn up the computation.

President Marcos aims to complete 131,410.66 kilometers of farm-to-market roads before his term ends in 2028. As of July, around 70,000 kilometers had been completed, leaving roughly 61,000 kilometers still in the pipeline.

The construction of FMRs is mandated under the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act of 1997 (RA 8435), which seeks to connect farms, fisheries, post-harvest facilities, and coastal landing points to markets and main roads to reduce transportation costs and improve farmers’ incomes.

However, the Makabayan bloc warned that the FMR program could be tainted by the same corruption schemes that have dogged flood control projects.

“[T]here is a need to thoroughly scrutinize the National FMR Network Plan 2023–2028 formulated and finalized during the stint of President Marcos Jr. as Agriculture Secretary, and more importantly, to conduct a thorough investigation into all farm-to-market roads for possible overpricing and corruption,” the resolution stated.

Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate Committee on Finance, recently flagged the proposed allocation for FMRs under the 2026 budget. The Malacañang-endorsed National Expenditure Program initially allocated P16 billion, but the House version of the budget doubled the amount to P32.6 billion.

Earlier, Tiu Laurel lamented that the proposed P16 billion allocation was “far shorter” than the P56 billion in pending FMR requests from 2025. The House later realigned a significant portion of the P255 billion budget for flood control projects to fund FMR construction under the DA.

The alleged anomalies in the FMR program are expected to be examined by the Independent Commission on Infrastructure after it concludes its investigation into the corruption scandal involving flood control projects.

In September, Laurel ordered a comprehensive audit of all FMRs built from 2021 to the present to uncover irregularities in their implementation — projects that were previously managed by the DPWH before being turned over to the DA in late October.

Weeks later, the agriculture chief confirmed the existence of “ghost” or non-existent FMRs in Davao Occidental and Zamboanga del Norte that were supposedly implemented in 2021 and 2022.

The DA expects to complete the full audit of FMR projects before the end of the year.