Delayed farm-to-market road projects to start construction in August

MANILA, Philippines – Construction of delayed farm-to-market road projects will start in August, as the Department of Agriculture (DA) resumes procurement after a delay due to costing adjustments and the global oil shocks.

DA spokesman Arnel de Mesa told reporters they are holding a pre-procurement conference tomorrow, Thursday, June 4. Some big-ticket projects awaiting procurement are the farm-to-market road projects for coffee production in Sultan Kudarat, the Clark National Food Hub, and select cold-storage facilities.

“Mag-start na kami ng bidding para doon,” De Mesa told reporters on Wednesday, June 3. “And then for other regions na may concern sila at gusto nilang kami mag-bid for them, we can handle also that.”

(We will start bidding for those projects soon. For other regions that want us to lead the bidding for them, we can handle also that.)

Bidding can last one to two months, said De Mesa. Afterwards, construction for the infrastructure projects may start.

Costing was formerly pegged at P15 million per kilometer. But the standard rate regardless of terrain was problematic at the start, according to De Mesa.

“It’s not a uniform rate of P15 million per kilometer anymore,” said De Mesa in Filipino. “As secretary [Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr.] said, it can be as low as P10 million in better areas to as high as more than P20 million depending on [the area]– if it’s in a mountain or in an island where it’s more expensive to bring [materials].”

The government allotted P33 billion for farm-to-market road projects for 2026. Aside from handling the procurement and overseeing the construction of these projects, the DA started a crackdown on “ghost” farm-to-market road projects.

Tiu Laurel recently filed complaints before the Ombudsman against several public works officials and contractors involved in these “ghost” projects.

Last year, the agriculture department took over the construction and maintenance of farm-to-market road projects after a massive corruption scandal rocked the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). – Rappler.com