The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Friday introduced a new online platform aimed at improving transparency and public monitoring of farm-to-market road projects nationwide.
Called the Farm-to-Market Road (FMR) Watch portal, the system allows users to view maps and real-time updates on project locations, construction progress, and implementation status, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said.
Laurel said the portal gives farmers, fisherfolk, local governments, and citizen watchdogs direct access to information that was previously limited to implementing agencies.
“Today we are not just launching a web portal — we are restoring trust when public funds are spent to build roads and not private fortunes,” Laurel said.
For 2026, the agriculture department is handling P33 billion in funding for farm-to-market road projects, with a target of building more than 2,300 kilometers nationwide, Laurel said.
He said the DA can now directly release funds to local governments, conduct bidding at the regional level, and coordinate with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for projects in remote or hard-to-reach areas.
Laurel added that the platform will also serve as the department’s internal monitoring tool and will later include live bidding features, while any findings on questionable or ghost projects will be referred to the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) for verification.
