MANILA — Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan is seeking a detailed explanation and breakdown, including proper coordinates, of some P8 billion worth of farm-to-market road (FMR) projects under the proposed 2026 national budget.

In an interview, Pangilinan said he will not agree to the proposed budget unless all details of the questioned FMR projects are made available for scrutiny and cross-checking.

The call comes after the bicameral conference committee doubled the proposed 2026 budget for FMR projects to P33 billion. Pangilinan, who chairs the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food, and Agrarian Reform and served as the Senate defender of the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) budget, said he identified about P8 billion worth of projects that lack specific details.

The DA is the implementing agency for the FMR projects.

“Di ba ang Senate version 16B?,” Pangilinan said, referring to the Senate-approved FMR allocation. “Tapos sa bicam, hiningi natin na magkaroon ng submission doon sa 33 billion na minumungkahi so sinubmit, pina-process namin tapos habang pina-process namin, mayroon kaming na-identify na kulang na actually 8 billion.”

He stressed the need for itemized and geo-tagged information for each project.

“Initially, walang specifics so tutal hindi pa naman nagclo-close ang bicam, so we will raise this in the bicam and we want coordinates. We want geo-tagging. We want itemized, line by line items of each contract, or each project. Kasi hindi pwe-pwede yung lump sum. Di kami papayag sa lump sum,” Pangilinan said.

The senator, who is vice chair of Subcommittee J of the Senate Committee on Finance and a member of the bicameral conference committee, said the approval of the increased allocation remains conditional.

Pangilinan added that “we will move for the reconsideration for the approval of the 33 billion” as long as itemized and geo-tagged coordinates are provided for the FMR projects covered by the amount.

He earlier raised concerns over the use of lump-sum allocations for farm-to-market road projects, citing the need to clearly specify the exact locations of each undertaking.

To ensure transparency and prevent corruption and abuse, Pangilinan has also proposed digital governance initiatives for the DA and the National Irrigation Administration, including a public online dashboard for irrigation projects that would display project timelines, status, financial details, awarded contracts, contractors, and geo-tagged photos taken at various stages of implementation.