Manila: President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. is advocating for stricter oversight and full transparency in the execution of farm-to-market road (FMR) projects to prevent the recurrence of past corruption issues, as stated by Malaca±ang on Monday. In a press briefing, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro highlighted the President's commitment to ensuring an orderly national budget and clean infrastructure spending. Marcos has personally initiated investigations into previous anomalous flood control and other infrastructure projects to avoid repeating historical malpractices.

According to Philippines News Agency, Marcos emphasized the importance of transparency and order in all transactions. To achieve this, a transparency portal has been established, which will also be implemented by the Department of Agriculture (DA). Castro addressed concerns that moving FMR projects from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to the DA might simply shift corruption instead of eliminating it, unless stronger safeguards are implemented.

"This program will be led by the DA and the local government units (LGUs), and even the bidding processes will be open to the public for transparency," Castro stated. She also confirmed that Marcos was aware of DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon's appeal during the bicameral conference committee to restore around PHP54 billion that was cut from the agency's proposed budget. The DPWH had submitted its budget request, but reductions were introduced at the Senate level.

Castro warned that nearly 10,000 projects might not be executed if the DPWH's budget is further reduced, highlighting the impact of potential budget cuts on infrastructure development.