As the national debate over Farm-to-Market Road (FMR) projects intensifies, questions are emerging about the consistency of official accounts and the focus of ongoing investigations. Documents reviewed by reporters show differences between some agency statements and provincial records, prompting local officials to ask whether inquiries are being applied evenly across regions.
In recent weeks, allegations of ghost projects and inflated budgets involving FMR roads have surfaced in multiple provinces. However, as more local governments release their records, several officials say the situation is more complex than initially portrayed. Some local leaders have cited what they describe as selective scrutiny, timing concerns, and narratives that, in their view, highlight certain areas while giving less attention to others with larger cost issues.
One recent example involves Davao Region, particularly Davao Occidental, after claims circulated online that ten FMR projects were priced at one hundred million pesos each. Provincial documents indicate that one hundred million pesos was the combined allocation for ten projects, not the cost per project. Provincial completion reports and field validation records show that the projects were implemented.
Provincial officials said four barangays passed resolutions to realign original routes after technical issues were identified during planning. They added that a Department of Agriculture (DA) inspection team assessed the original alignments rather than the revised, completed routes. Local leaders said this may have contributed to public impressions that no work had been done.
Officials in other regions have raised similar concerns. Governors, mayors, and barangay leaders from Luzon to Mindanao have asked that reviews cover all flagged areas, including those with larger or more unusual cost deviations, to ensure a comprehensive audit of public spending.
Earlier, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian’s office cited examples of sharply higher-than-typical costs for FMR projects under the General Appropriations Act of 2024. These include the concreting of Barangay San Roque FMR Phase 2 in Tacloban City, Leyte, costing one hundred million pesos for zero point two eight seven kilometer. Other projects in Camarines Sur, Bulacan, Eastern Samar, and Daraga, Albay were also flagged.
Lawmakers noted that the DA has previously cited a benchmark cost of around ten million pesos per kilometer for FMR construction. They also pointed to broader losses in agriculture logistics, estimating that twelve point seven to fifteen percent of rice output and about thirty percent of vegetables are lost annually due to weak infrastructure.
Local leaders are calling for uniform standards in how projects are assessed. They say investigations should be data-driven and nationwide, rather than limited to select provinces.
“We support investigations,” a Mindanao official said. “But they should be applied fairly. If there are irregularities, they should be addressed everywhere, including in areas already identified for unusually high costs.”
The DA and other relevant agencies have been requested for comment on the concerns raised by provincial officials. This story will be updated if they respond.
As inquiries continue, stakeholders say the central issue is whether probes will result in a full accounting of public funds across all regions. With billions in infrastructure spending involved, they add that consistent standards and transparent reporting will be key to maintaining public trust.
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