Senator Sherwin Gatchalian questioned on Monday, Oct. 27, the 104 percent increase of farm-to-market road (FMR) appropriations from P16 billion to P32 billion under the General Appropriations Bill (GAB).

"Kasi nakita po namin sa GAB na lumaki ang pondo ng FMR from P16 billion to P32 billion (Because we saw in the GAB that the budget for FMR increased from ₱16 billion to ₱32 billion)," Gatchalian said during the finance subcommittee deliberations of the proposed 2026 budget of the DPWH.

"Ang punto ko ho kasi naglilinis tayo sa Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) naitransfer naman natin sa Department of Agriculture (DA) yung pwede maging issue (My point is that while we are cleaning up the DPWH, we may have transferred to the DA something that could also become an issue)," he added.

Based on the special provision on FMR, the projects shall be released directly to the DPWH for the construction, improvement, rehabilitation, and repair of FMRS in accordance with the National FMR Network Plan. Gatchalian confirmed with Engr. Cristy Cecilia Polido, Director, Bureau of Agricultural and Fisheries Engineering of the DA that a project will not be implemented if it's not under the network plan.

Polido said that out of the 1,656 FMR projects, that's worth P32 billion under the 2026 GAB, a total of P24 billion has been validated to be included in the FMR network plan. She said that the remaining P8 billion is still under validation.

"Kung wala siya sa network plan dapat hindi gawin (If it’s not included in the network plan, then it shouldn’t be implemented)," Gatchalian said.

Polido said that it should be noted that the network plan is evolving, but Gatchalian stated that, for the purpose of budgeting, it shouldn't be a "moving target."

"'Pag maglalagay ka ng pondo hindi pwedeng maglagay ng pondo tsaka tayo gumawa ng master plan, parang shino-shoot mo yung master plan sa pondo eh, dapat yung pondo i-shoot sa master plan (When you allocate funds, you can’t just put in the money first and make the master plan later. It’s like you’re fitting the master plan to the funds, when in fact, the funds should be aligned with the master plan)," he explained.

"Sayang yung P8 billion kasi wala naman sa master plan ninyo, hindi nila i-implement pero naglagay tayo ng pondo (The P8 billion would go to waste because it’s not even part of your master plan. They won’t implement it, yet we already allocated funds for it)," he added.

In case it is not validated, Gatchalian said that the Senate would be inclined to remove it since it's not part of the master plan. But she said that they can look into possible replacements coming from the FMR network plan.  

According to Polido, DPWH still has to get clearance from DA that these FMR projects are indeed validated and feasible.

Gatchalian also questioned the generic names of the FMR projects, citing the special provision that states that the network plan shall include the scope of work, estimated length in kilometers, and specific location for each project.

Polido said that prior to the start of the implementation of the projects, DPWH and DA conduct a joint geotagging of the start and the end of the projects.