The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) will still be able to lead the development of farm-to-market road (FMR) projects, even after supervision of the program was transferred to the Department of Agriculture (DA) this year.

The Bureau of Agricultural and Fisheries Engineering (BAFE), the DA unit in charge of FMRs, said the DPWH’s role is still being finalized under the program’s implementing guidelines.

At the earliest, BAFE Director Cristy Polido said the DPWH may take over the implementation of certain FMR projects in areas where the unit has no regional office.

This development comes after the recent signing of the ₱6.793-trillion national budget for the year, which allocated ₱33 billion to the DA for the construction, rehabilitation, improvement, and repair of FMRs.

Based on its special provisions, the DA may enter into a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the DPWH for the construction of FMR projects.

The FMR program was removed from the DPWH and transferred to the DA following the corruption scandal in flood control projects, which continues to unfold.

Previously, the DA only identified and validated the sites where FMRs would be built. After that, the DPWH oversaw the entire process, from bidding to actual construction.

In light of the scandal, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel ordered an audit of FMRs in an effort to identify potential corruption.

So far, the audit has uncovered five “ghost” FMR projects in the province of Davao Occidental, which were reported by the DPWH as completed but were later confirmed to be non-existent.

Under the 2026 General Appropriations Act (GAA), the DA may also enter into a MOA with “qualified” local government units (LGUs) or through public-private partnerships (PPP).

Based on the GAA, Central Luzon will receive the biggest FMR funding this year, with a total of ₱4.89 billion.

Other regions earmarked for high funding include Eastern Visayas with ₱4.4 billion, Cagayan Valley with ₱3.78 billion, Soccsksargen with ₱3.57 billion, and Calabarzon with ₱2.65 billion.

Polido said the cost per FMR project will vary depending on location and design, although she noted it will be lower than the ₱15-million benchmark under the DPWH.

She said the average cost for FMRs will likely be around ₱12 million.

However, this contrasts with the GAA, which identified specific funding for hundreds of FMR projects ranging from as low as ₱3 million to as high as ₱240 million.

To ensure that FMR funding is properly utilized, the DA was tasked with maintaining and regularly updating an online dashboard on its official website containing information on projects.

This publicly accessible portal must cover the project timeline and status of each FMR project, location, list of contracts awarded and corresponding contractors, funding source, amounts obligated and disbursed, and other details to ensure accountability.

The DA is right on track with this mandate with the launch of its “FMR Watch” transparency platform next month.

Aside from information about FMRs, the public will also be able to directly submit complaints through the website, similar to the “Sumbong sa Pangulo” platform for flood control projects.

The DA is also planning to include a livestream feature to make the bidding process more transparent.

The government is racing to complete around 70,000 kilometers (km) of FMRs across the country to efficiently connect agricultural production areas to markets.