2027 budget: P16B for farm-to-market roads insufficient – DA

MANILA, Philippines — The proposed P16 billion for the construction and rehabilitation of farm-to-market road (FMR) projects for 2027 is insufficient to cover the thousands of kilometers needed under the system, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel said on Tuesday.

During the House committee on appropriations’ briefing on the proposed budget of the Department of Agriculture (DA), Tiu Laurel said 55,000 kilometers (km) are needed under the FMR system as of Aug. 31, 2026.

READ: DA budgets P33-B for farm-to-market roads

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“With the limited budget of P16 billion, we can’t achieve that,” he added.

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He explained that under the 2027 National Expenditure Program (NEP), the DA’s FMR projects were allotted P16 billion. This is a more than 50 percent decrease from the P33,009,763,000 budget allotted for the projects in the 2026 national budget.

“It’s difficult to implement that because we are only given P16 billion for 55,000 km,” he added.

Tiu Laurel noted that the proposed budget for the FMR projects was determined by the fiscal allocation given to the agency under the NEP.

READ: DPWH execs face raps over ‘ghost’ farm roads

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In the same hearing, Rep. Robert Nazal asked if the DA uses a scientific database to identify areas to be prioritized under the FMR projects.

Tiu Laurel said the DA uses parameters such as road influence area, poverty incidence, number of farmer or fisherfolk beneficiaries, present road conditions, climate change adaptation, average daily traffic, and new production areas, among others.

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Nazal then asked the secretary if the agency considers areas where it can observe a return on investment. The secretary said that while this is a general practice, the agency also determines areas with “missionary roots,” with little production but high potential for benefits later on.

More scrutiny

Showing the FMR transparency portal in his presentation, Rep. Antonio Tinio pointed out the completed projects out of the total projects indicated. He asked Tiu Laurel why the agency had completed only half of the total projects.

Based on the transparency portal of FMR infrastructure projects from 2021 to 2026, 3,235 projects were completed out of the 6,428 total projects, with a total investment of P109.53 billion. The completed projects spanned 2,485.23 kilometers.

Tiu Laurel said the projects allocated for 2026 have not yet been implemented because the Special Allotment Release Order was released by the Department of Budget and Management only last week.

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He added that of the P23 billion budget for FMR projects in 2025, only P12 billion was released to the agency. /mcm