The Department of Agriculture (DA) is scrambling to correct coordinate errors in eight farm-to-market road (FMR) projects that could cost them funding, while insisting the disputed entries were part of the executive branch’s original 2027 budget proposal and not congressional insertions.
DA Assistant Secretary for Operations U-Nichols A. Manalo told the House Committee on Agriculture and Food on Wednesday that all 1,669 FMR projects under scrutiny, including the eight with coordinate discrepancies, were already included in the National Expenditure Program (NEP) submitted by the executive branch.
The clarification puts the disputed projects within the administration’s original spending proposal, rather than among new projects introduced through House amendments.
Manalo attributed the discrepancies to errors in recording project coordinates but warned that the eight projects could be lost as a result.
Asked by committee chair and Quezon 1st District Rep. Wilfrido Mark Enverga about their implementation, Manalo replied, “I think it will be approved eventually.”
Camarines Sur 4th District Rep. Arnie Fuentebella, however, reminded the DA that the budget process was not yet finished.
“I think you can still correct it,” he said, expressing support for the department’s efforts and urging officials to fix the technical details so the roads would serve their intended purpose of connecting farms to markets.
The exchange took place during the committee’s inquiry under House Resolution No. 967 on agricultural preparedness for El Niño.
Manalo said the coordinate discrepancies were raised during Senate deliberations on the DA’s proposed 2027 budget. The department subsequently invited representatives of the People’s Budget Coalition to meet with the undersecretary overseeing FMRs to review the flagged entries.
In a November 3 statement, Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr. also outlined the department’s coordination with civil society organizations (CSOs) to verify the project data.
“We are reviewing the data and working with civil society groups to make sure the technical descriptions are accurate and verifiable,” Tiu Laurel said.
