If the ’30 percent’ is removed, a kilometer-long farm-to-market road could only cost as low as P10 million, but the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) quoted P15 million for it, Agriculture chief Francisco Tiu Laurel revealed on Wednesday.
Tiu Laurel, citing his experience in the private sector, made this candid admission during the Senate committee on finance hearing for the proposed P176.7 billion budget of the Department of Agriculture (DA).
This topic surfaced as committee chair Sen. Win Gatchalian noted that DA’s proposed budget for farm-to-market roads in 2026 was reduced to P16 billion from this year’s P23.2 billion allocation.
Tiu Laurel explained that the budget reduction was due to ‘budget constraints’ and the agency’s small fiscal space – or its flexibility in its spending choices – as advised by the Department of Budget and Management earlier this year.
This P16 billion will be used to build ‘a little bit less than’ 1,100 kilometers of roads, the DA chief said, citing the DPWH estimates.
This means that each kilometer of farm-to-market roads will cost P15 million to build or P15,000 per one meter, according to him.
Tiu Laurel, when asked by Gatchalian if this amount is agreed upon by DA and DPWH, said: ‘No. This is set by DPWH.’
‘I am from the private sector, and I build roads. It’s too high,’ the DA chief stressed.
The secretary said this could ‘easily’ be reduced to P10 million per kilometer or P10,000 per meter if the ’30 percent’ is removed.
It is not clear what Tiu Laurel was referring to in his ’30 percent’ remark.
However, it could be noted that a former DPWH assistant district engineer in Bulacan alleged that senators were asking for a 30 percent kickback for flood control projects.
During the previous Senate hearings, DPWH’s Bulacan 1st District Assistant District Engineer Brice Hernandez alleged that Sens. Jinggoy Estrada and Joel Villanueva maneuvered to allocate P355 million and P600 million for projects in Bulacan’s first district in exchange for a 30-percent cut.
Both senators denied the accusations, with Estrada filing a perjury case against Hernandez before a Quezon City prosecutor’s office on Tuesday.
A major corruption scandal involving flood control projects prompted congressional inquiry and the formation of an independent commission to investigate the suspected collusion between lawmakers, government officials, and contractors to embezzle billions of pesos from the country’s coffers.
Amid all these developments, a nationwide and widespread Sept. 21 protest occurred – with a deadly Mendiola riot stealing the show – and even rumors of a coup also emerged, which the military later denied. /apl