Manila: The Department of Agriculture (DA) is set to launch a real-time farm-to-market road (FMR) Watch portal with a 24/7 acknowledgment feature in February. The launch comes ahead of the actual implementation of FMR projects in the Philippines following its official transfer from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to the DA. In a press conference on Thursday, DA spokesperson Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa stated that the transparency platform will be accessible to the public. It features real-time on-the-ground monitoring and complaint submission capabilities.
According to Philippines News Agency, DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. emphasized the importance of swift action, ensuring that within 24 hours of lodging a complaint, DA personnel, alongside local government units, will address the issues. The DA-Bureau of Agricultural and Fisheries Engineering (BAFE) successfully developed the FMR portal in-house without incurring costs from third-party stakeholders.
BAFE Director Cristy Cecilia Polido explained that the portal aims to automatically reflect complaints, prompting immediate validation for the legitimacy of claims through calls against regional field offices, local government units (LGUs), and barangays. The platform will allow the public to browse FMR programs with geo-tagged locations, project details such as contractor names, timelines, and budget allocations.
For monitoring and progress tracking, users can create an account to send feedback, with ratings of up to five stars, and include comments and pictures. When submitting complaints, users can report issues about road conditions, quality, and construction delays.
Based on BAFE's FMR transparency portal update, 3,135 out of 4,810 total projects worth PHP76.52 billion have been completed since 2021. For 2026, the DA has secured PHP33 billion for approximately 1,600 FMR projects. BAFE mentioned that the cost of FMR construction might be lower than the previous PHP15 million under the DPWH, with an estimated worth as low as PHP12 million per kilometer for a 5-meter-wide FMR.
