THE construction of the P33-billion farm-to-market road (FMR) projects for 2026 is expected to begin in the fourth quarter following previous delays, according to the Department of Agriculture (DA).
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said the DA only received the special allotment release order (Saro) for the FMR projects in end-August, with bidding slated to start this month.
Government agencies should secure a Saro from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for funds to be disbursed.
‘The [probable construction] is in October, November, December [then these will be completed] by the end of 2027,’ Tiu Laurel recently told reporters.
He said the DA decided to retain the P15 million per-kilometer cost due to the surge in materials and pump prices wrought by the Middle East war.
Prior to the war that triggered the global oil crisis, Tiu Laurel expressed confidence that the agency can lower the standard per-kilometer cost to as low as P13.5 million depending on the terrain.
‘Then the crisis came and [the prices of] everything went up, so we only reverted it back to P15 million,’ he said.
For 2027, the DA earmarked P16 billion for the construction and rehabilitation of FMR projects under its National Expenditures Program (NEP).
Tiu Laurel, however, said the proposed funding is not enough to slash the 55,000 kilometers FMR requirement deficit nationwide.
‘It will be better if it’s P60 billion to P66 billion annually to finish that in 12 years or P125 billion a year to complete this in six years. But of course, we’re limited by the fiscal space,’ he said.
Despite this, Tiu Laurel said he remains hopeful that Congress and Senate will increase the budget allocation for FMRs next year.
The DA has taken over the development and implementation of FMR projects following the controversial infrastructure projects by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
Early this year, the agency launched the FMR Watch, a transparency and monitoring portal by the Bureau of Agricultural and Fisheries Engineering (BAFE).
The portal has tracked 6,428 projects between 2021 and 2026. The total investment reached P109.53 billion, covering around 2,485 kilometers of roads nationwide. Of these, only 3,235 projects have been completed.
The DA said the construction of these FMRs will lower production costs and raise farmers’ incomes, thus reducing food prices.