THE Department of Agriculture (DA) will start the bidding process for its farm-to-market road (FMR) projects for 2026.
“Tomorrow [June 4], we have a pre-procurement conference for the FMR, for the current year,” spokesperson Arnel de Mesa said, but added that some regions have started the bidding.
But other regions have concerns and want the DA to conduct the bidding process for them, de Mesa noted.
The bidding was supposed to be conducted in April, but Agriculture Undersecretary Arrey Perez previously said that the energy crisis had posed a challenge in finalizing the cost of the FMR projects.
The DA has computed varying unit prices per kilometer for each FMR project, since construction conditions for each area are different, including labor and material costs, de Mesa said.
The cost of FMRs could vary from P10 to P20 million per kilometer, depending on the land conditions of each area.
“If it’s an island, there would be additional costs,” he said. “Before, the price was uniform at P15 million per kilometer, which [is not possible now] because there are flatland areas [which won’t be that expensive], and there are areas that are rolling. Those things should be considered.”
There are coffee areas in Sultan Kudarat, for instance, whose FMRs could cost P1.5 to P2 billion, de Mesa said.
Implementation of FMR projects was transferred to the DA this year, taken from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), which had been embroiled in the flood control corruption scandal.
The DA received P33 billion from the 2026 General Appropriations Act to construct 2,300 kilometers of FMRs.
The DA is validating the projects based on the coordinates written in the 2026 GAA general provisions, Perez said, aside from creating a detailed engineering plan and program of works for project implementation.
Implementation of existing FMR projects is ongoing, Perez said.
