(Photo courtesy of DA)
The Department of Agriculture (DA) has partnered with civil society organizations to strengthen transparency and accountability in the implementation of farm-to-market road (FMR) projects nationwide.
The DA announced Friday that it would collaborate with the People’s Budget Coalition (PBC), Bisto Proyekto and other citizen watchdog groups to monitor projects from planning and budget preparation to construction and post-implementation evaluation.
DA Undersecretary for Agro-Marine Systems Arrey Perez welcomed the participation of civil society organizations in auditing projects and ensuring their timely and proper completion.
“We welcome the extra hands and eyes offered by these civil society groups to audit these projects and ensure they are executed properly,” Perez said.
“By completing these projects as intended, we bring greater development to our farmers, fisherfolk, other food producers, and more rural areas.”
Under the partnership, the DA committed to sharing relevant project documents and exploring joint monitoring activities with participating organizations.
The collaboration followed concerns raised by the PBC over discrepancies in the geographic coordinates of several FMR projects listed in DA records.
Some project coordinates reportedly pointed to bodies of water near other countries, raising questions about the accuracy of the agency’s project database.
The coalition also flagged 355 House-inserted FMR project records worth nearly Php 6 billion and 222 irrigation project records valued at approximately Php 7 billion.
PBC co-convenor Kenneth Abante said publicly accessible supporting documents were unavailable for the flagged FMR projects, making independent verification difficult.
The group has called for stricter documentation requirements under the proposed 2027 national budget, including field verification reports, necessity assessments and feasibility studies for every FMR project proposal.
The DA said the partnership with citizen watchdogs is intended to extend beyond the 2027 budget cycle to promote sustained public oversight of infrastructure spending.
To support transparency, the agency maintains the FMR Watch Portal, a centralized database and monitoring platform containing detailed engineering designs, programs of work and project validation reports.
The portal also allows citizens and civil society organizations to submit complaints and upload photographs or videos documenting possible irregularities or discrepancies between official project records and actual conditions on the ground.
The DA said greater public participation in monitoring would help ensure that farm-to-market roads are properly implemented and deliver their intended benefits to farmers, fisherfolk and rural communities.
