MANILA – Lawmakers from the Makabayan bloc have filed a resolution urging the House of Representatives to investigate what they described as “systematic corruption and overpricing” in the farm-to-market road (FMR) projects jointly implemented by the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

The bloc cited the DA’s National Farm-to-Market Roads Network Plan (NFMRNP) for 2023–2028, which proposed a budget of ₱15.91 million per kilometer—₱6.4 million higher than the average cost of ₱9.486 million per kilometer. The plan also included an additional ₱1 million per kilometer for “better connectivity and street design.”

“Now, therefore, be it resolved, as it is hereby resolved, that the House of Representatives, through the Committee on Public Accounts and Committee on Agriculture and Food, immediately conduct a comprehensive investigation, in aid of legislation, into the systemic corruption and overpricing of FMR projects of the DA and the DPWH,” the resolution, filed on October 29, stated.

The NFMRNP was published on June 20, 2023 by the DA, DPWH, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of Trade and Industry, and Department of Tourism. At the time, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was serving as agriculture secretary.

Following reports of “ghost” and substandard flood-control projects under the DPWH, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. ordered an audit of FMR projects on September 18. A week later, the DA said it found nine suspected “ghost” FMRs worth ₱125 million in two Mindanao provinces — seven in Davao Occidental and two in Lanao del Sur.

Of the nine projects, five were marked “completed” during the Duterte administration — three in 2021 and two in 2022 — while four were listed as “complete” under the Marcos administration in 2023.

During a Senate Committee on Finance hearing in early October, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian reported that ₱10 billion worth of FMRs funded under the 2023 and 2024 national budgets were “extremely overpriced.”

Under the 2024 General Appropriations Act (GAA), ₱100 million was allocated for road concreting in Barangay San Roque, Tacloban City, covering just 0.287 kilometers. This amounts to ₱348,432.06 per meter, or 23 times higher than the standard DPWH rate of ₱15,000 per meter.

Another “overpriced” project was handled by a firm owned by the brother of resigned Ako Bicol Rep. Zaldy Co, involving road concreting from Barangay Kidaco to Barangay San Roque in Daraga, Albay, with a ₱46 million budget for only 0.37 kilometers—or ₱124,324.32 per meter, about 8.3 times higher than standard costs.

Gatchalian said the Bicol Region had the highest number of projects with “cost overshoot,” with 80 projects worth ₱1.7 billion, of which ₱1.18 billion (68 percent) were overpriced. Eastern Visayas ranked second, with 33 projects worth ₱791 million, overpriced by 70 percent or ₱555 million.

Former House Speaker Martin Romualdez, a cousin of President Marcos, represents the first district of Leyte.

Gatchalian also noted that three of the top 15 contractors awarded ₱100 billion in flood-control projects — GCI Construction and Development Corp., EGB Construction Corp., and Hi-Tone Construction — also secured the largest FMR contracts in 2024.

GCI received ₱288.5 million, EGB got ₱224.1 million, and Hi-Tone Construction, co-founded by the Co family, received ₱221.8 million in FMR contracts.

According to the DA, the government aims to complete 131,000 kilometers of FMRs linking agricultural areas to markets by the end of 2025. As of July 2025, about 70,000 kilometers have been completed, while 61,000 kilometers remain under validation.