AGRICULTURE Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel, Jr. ordered an audit of all farm‑to‑market road (FMR) projects since 2021, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said in a statement.
The DA said that it validates FMR projects, though they are commissioned, bid out, and constructed by the Department of Public Works and Highways, which is currently embroiled in scandal over substandard or even non-existent flood control projects.
“These roads are meant to connect production areas to markets,” he said. “With what is happening now in flood control projects, I ordered an audit of all FMR projects from 2021 to 2025. If there are any issues in these agricultural road projects, I will have to report that to President (Ferdinand R.) Marcos, (Jr.),” Mr. Laurel was quoted as saying.
The FMR audit, he said, should be completed by the end of this year.
According to the government’s roadmap, the target is to build 131,000 kilometers of FMRs to link farms with markets, the DA said. As of July, 70,000 kilometers have been completed — and about 61,000 kilometers awaiting validation.
For 2026, the DA said it allocated P16 billion for FMRs, well below the P56 billion requested during the budget preparation process.