DA Steps Up: Agriculture Department Takes Helm of Farm-to-Market Road Projects to Ensure Transparency and Food Security

AGRI-NEWS | Farming Posted on 2025-10-11 18:12:35

MANILA – The Department of Agriculture (DA) has accepted the challenge to lead the implementation of the government’s farm-to-market road (FMR) projects, aiming to strengthen accountability and curb corruption in infrastructure spending.

The move follows calls from lawmakers during the Senate Committee on Finance hearing on the DA’s proposed 2026 budget, urging the department to take over FMR projects previously managed by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

Finance Committee Chair Senator Win Gatchalian raised concerns over alleged overpricing in previous DPWH-implemented FMR projects, citing as an example the supposed excessive cost of a 70,000-kilometer road project that “could have been enough” to build a two-lane highway from Manila to Aparri.

In response, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said the DA is ready to take full responsibility, emphasizing that the welfare of farmers and the nation’s food security must come first.

“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,” Laurel said. “There is no time for hesitation.”

He assured that the DA will work closely with local government units, farmers’ groups, third-party auditors, and surveyors, and will carry out citizen participatory audits to ensure transparency and proper implementation of all FMR projects.

“This mandate is too large, too critical, and too prone to misuse to be entrusted to a single agency,” Laurel stressed. “Para sa bayan, hindi namin tatalikuran ang hamon ng panahon (For the nation, we will not back down from the challenge of the times).”

NPO News Team | PNA-PR

Writer :

Link :