A congressional investigation into possible corruption issues surrounding farm-to-market roads appears necessary, especially with the pending concerns about the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) transparency, ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio said on Monday.
Tinio, in an interview with reporters at the Batasang Pambansa complex, was asked why he and the rest of the Makabayan bloc filed House Resolution No. 421 – a call on the House of Representatives to check on the alleged overpricing of farm-to-market roads – when such issues can be left to the ICI, the same body doing the flood control probe.
Tinio, in response, said it is good that all avenues for investigation will be exhausted, noting that the House and the Senate’s separate investigations on the flood control issues yielded good results.
‘Well, again, I think it’s important that all venues of investigation are maximized. In the same way that the role of the House and Senate investigations on the flood control yielded a positive outcome, and now that we are still having problems with the lack of transparency in the ICI’s processes,’ Tinio said in Filipino.
‘So, I think it is important that we start an investigation on farm-to-market roads and ultimately let the public decide on its credibility,’ he added.
Makabayan filed the resolution on October 29, citing the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) National Farm-to-Market Roads Network Plan for 2023 to 2028, which proposed a budget of P15.91 million per kilometer for farm-to-market roads.
This, Makabayan said, is P6.4 million higher than the average cost of P9.486 million per kilometer.
The plan also included an additional P1 million per kilometer for ‘better connectivity and street design,’ the resolution stated.
ICI is currently in the thick of investigations on the flood control mess, but it has been criticized for not livestreaming its hearings, keeping people in the dark.
Last September, past and present House lawmakers like Mamamayang Liberal Party-list Rep. Leila de Lima, Akbayan Party-list Rep. Percival Cendaña, and former Bayan Muna lawmaker Neri Colmenares have called on the ICI to livestream discussions so that the people can monitor proceedings and be engaged with the country’s latest corruption scandal.
Aside from calls for a livestream, de Lima said there may be a need to really push for a law that would institutionalize the ICI.
Corruption and food security
According to Tinio, there is a need to ascertain whether farm-to-market roads have fallen prey to corruption, as no less than Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. believes the road construction costs have been bloated.
Farm-to-market roads are DA projects in partnership with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) – the same agency dragged into the flood control mess.
‘It appears that, based on initial investigations, including budget hearings, there is a systematic overpricing of farm-to-market roads, which even Secretary Laurel himself said could be overpriced by up to 50 percent. P15 million per kilometer is the official price or the standard pricing of the DPWH, but he thinks it can be done for around P10 million,’ he said speaking in Filipino.
‘We have received several reports on the ground that many of the projects are substandard, some are ghost projects, and some are not really being utilized by farmers, so if we have a massive corruption scheme regarding flood control, it seems we also have another with farm-to-market roads and we should investigate that, reveal and hold accountable the proponents and contractors,’ he added.
If the government is fighting corruption in flood control projects, Tinio said farm-to-market roads should also be rid of any irregularities since it directly impacts farmers and food prices.
Tinio explained that logistics – the need to transport rice grains and other issues related to far-flung farmlands – are being used by traders as a reason to buy palay at a very low farmgate price.
‘One of the reasons cited by traders or middlemen to take advantage and lower the buying prices of palay is the issue of logistics, that the farmlands are located in a far-flung area and it cannot be easily accessed by market traders. This is used to take advantage of our farmers,’ he said in Filipino.
‘There would be a big impact if we had good roads and transportation costs would be cut, that is the intention of farm-to-market roads, but if these funds are channeled to corruption, the road network is in shambles, palay prices will continue to fall, and our farmers will remain poor. It’s estimated that up to 30 percent of the palay supply is affected by a lack of access to farm-to-market roads.’