Marcos wants farm-to-market roads prioritized to benefit farmers

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. has ordered the prioritization of farm-to-market road (FMR) projects to benefit local farmers and ensure smooth flow of goods and services.

Marcos also said he wants government initiatives to remain on track with the Farm-to-Market Roads National Plan (FMRNP).

"To prioritize our farmers, we’ve decided not to lower tariffs and instead develop or repair crucial farm-to-market roads where needed," Marcos said in a Facebook post.

In a meeting with Department of Agriculture officials on Tuesday, Marcos said the government must determine where the roads are mostly needed.

"For example, roads that are heavily used that are not in good condition pero ang daming dumadaan na produkto ay ayusin natin (Roads that are heavily used that are not in good condition, but many are using them, let's fix them),” Marcos, who sits as DA chief, said.

The President also instructed DA officials to coordinate with other concerned agencies to identify areas for development and construction of FMRs.

“We have to be in coordination with other departments as to where are the areas na gusto nating pagandahin, na gusto natin we will start planting high-value crops on this area, for example, Kailangan lagyan natin ng FMR 'yan kasi gusto talaga nating pagandahin,” he said.

(We have to be in coordination with other departments as to where are the areas that we want to improve, that we want to start planting with high-value crops. We need to put FMRs if we really want to improve them.)

Marcos also said the rehabilitation and repair of FMRs that were damaged by flood and other natural disasters should also be considered.

During the start of his presidency, Marcos said his administration would come up with a farm-to-market road masterplan with the target of ensuring food security in the country.

As of October 2022, the DA and other government agencies have completed a total of 67,255.46 km of FMR projects, 51% of the 131,410.66 km target.

The Presidential Communications Office said this is necessary to provide service to 14 million hectares of the country’s production areas for agriculture and fisheries.

A total of 64,155.20 km of FMRs have yet to be completed, requiring an investment cost of P962.325 billion. Of these, there are only 46,937.1 km of proposed FMR projects from the local government units as of August 1, 2023. —KG, GMA Integrated News