To strengthen accountability, the Department of Agriculture (DA) is preparing to launch an online platform called “FMR Watch,” which will allow the public to upload photos, track construction progress, and flag issues directly from project sites.
Public oversight through ‘FMR Watch’
“We will do a number of things like the FMR Watch website, wherein our netizens or ordinary citizens or local government officials could help monitoring projects and upload photos into that website so we at the DA could track their progress, or lack thereof,” Tiu Laurel said in a press statement.
The DA will also roll out an interactive portal showing the exact locations of ongoing FMRs, enabling citizens to personally visit, verify, and document developments.
Preventing abuses and protecting public funds
Tiu Laurel stressed that broad participation is critical to preventing abuses in project implementation.
“We need everyone’s help to monitor all of these FMR projects in order to do them properly at the fastest possible time,” he said. “These initiatives, we believe, will greatly help in keeping everyone honest and ensure precious public funds do not end up in some unscrupulous individual’s pockets.”
Starting 2026, the DA will once again take charge of developing FMRs, a mandate currently handled by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
The DPWH is facing corruption allegations linked to hundreds of billions of pesos worth of substandard or incomplete flood-control projects.
Massive backlog and ongoing audit
The DA estimates that the country needs around 131,000 kilometers of FMRs to strengthen agricultural supply chains.
However, more than 60,000 kilometers remain unbuilt, a backlog that could take decades to clear given current funding levels.
The agency is also auditing some 5,000 kilometers of FMRs completed in recent years to determine whether they met technical standards and were finished as specified.
Budget and transparency measures
In a bid to promote transparency, the DA has submitted to the Senate a detailed list of FMR projects—with precise map coordinates—for inclusion in the 2026 General Appropriations Act.
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, chair of the Senate Committee on Finance, welcomed the move, calling it “the standard” for proper disclosure and accountability.
The Senate has approved the DA’s P184.1-billion proposed budget for 2026, matching the version earlier passed by the House of Representatives. —Ed: Corrie S. Narisma
