Three of the 15 contractors earlier tagged in the corrupt flood control projects in the Philippines are also involved in the allegedly anomalous farm-to-market road (FMR) projects, according to Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian.
In a Kapihan sa Senado forum on Thursday, Gatchalian noted a pattern in these alleged anomalies, disclosing that from 2023 to 2024, the regions with the most FMR projects were Region 5 (Bicol Region) and Region 8 (Eastern Visayas). ‘When we were looking at the contractors for 2024, we saw that three of the 10 are part of the top 15 contractors in the flood control scandal. One of these is the Hi-tone [Construction and Development Corp], which is linked to Zaldy Co’s sibling,’ said Gatchalian speaking mostly in Filipino.
‘For me, all of these are not coincidental,’ said the senator who noted that when it comes to corruption, nothing is impossible.
‘When we talk about corruption, these culprits will make ghost projects, they will make it overpriced just to bag money,’ he added in Filipino.
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Gatchalian, during the Senate’s hearing on the proposed 2026 funding of the Department of Agriculture, revealed that over P10 billion worth of FMRs programmed under the 2023 and 2024 national budgets have been ‘extremely overpriced.’
One project, for example, cost 23 times more than the standard price set by the DPWH, while others saw markups of up to 70 percent, further bloating the project cost.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr., meanwhile, said the DPWH set a standard cost of P15,000 per meter for FMRs, but this could be as low as P10,000 if the ’30 percent’ markup were trimmed.
Due to the gravity of these alleged overpriced FMRs, Gatchalian himself said he would recommend to the Senate blue ribbon committee to look into the scheme as well. ‘I would recommend the blue ribbon panel to look at these FMRs because of similar contractors involved. I would recommend the ICI to look at these FMRs because it is highly overpriced. From P15,000 per meter, they will increase it to P300,000 per meter. They are shameless when it comes to overpricing,’ said Gatchalian. /jpv