Directing The Farm-To-Market Roads – Should It Be The LGUs Or DA?


One look at the above scene in Cagayan Valley and you can imagine how valuable is a farm-to-market road (FMR) to food producers on one hand and to food consumers on the other hand. 
(farm-to-market road image[1] from DPWH.gov.ph)

I am 100% certain that local government units (LGUs) know the political value of an FMR, and that the Department of Agriculture (DA) appreciates the economic value of the same – and that I think is the source of the unstated problem:

“Which government arm should handle the national budget for FMRs: the LGUs or the DA?”

I am the one asking that question. That was the unasked question during a recent hearing of the House Committee of Appropriations (HCA) on the DA budget for 2022 as reported by Jasper Y Arcalas (08 September 2021, “DA To Lawmakers: Enact Law That Will Ensure Funding For FMR Program[2],” BusinessMirror). The HCA members of Congress noted that the Department of Budget & Management (DBM) had slashed the FMR budget by 57.7% to P4.98 Billion. The HCA also noted that the FMR allocation for 2022 was just 6.97% of the proposed DA budget of P71.438 Billion.

Secretary of Agriculture William Dar, who is ex-officio head of the DA, told the HCA, as reported by Arcalas:

The budget given by the DBM under the NEP [National Expenditure Program] for FMR [in 2022] is P4.9 billion… The other (portion of the total FMR) budget was transferred to the local government units; that’s our understanding.

My own understanding is that the LGUs have the right to determine what, where, when, why and how to build the FMRs in their territories – but:

The DA has not only the Right but the Duty to see to it that those FMRs are designed to play their significant contributory roles in transforming Philippine agriculture in those LGUs!

The DA is the best judge for positioning those FMRs so that they can support the OneDA Reform Agenda. In another media, ANN says Mr Dar said earlier (Author Not Named, 23 June 2021, “Dar Leads Agriculture To The Right Direction[3],” The Manila Times):

We must apply the “One DA” Agenda to transform the sector by employing major strategies towards a modern and industrialized Philippine agriculture.

The Agenda is built on 4 pillars: Consolidation, Modernization, Industrialization, and Professionalization. Those key strategies total 12, these ones:

Consolidation: Bayanihan Agri-Clusters; Collective Action/Cooperatives Development; Province-Led Agriculture & Fisheries Extension Systems; Mobilization & Empowerment of Partners; Diversification; and Credit Support.

Modernization: Technology & Innovation including Digital Agriculture; Farm Mechanization & Infrastructure Investments; Climate Change Adaptation & Mitigation Measures; and Food Safety & Regulations.

Industrialization: Development of Agri Industrial Business Corridors; Global Trade, Export Development & Promotion; and Postharvest, Processing, Logistics & Marketing Support.

Professionalization: Agriculture Career System; Education & Training for Agribusiness Management; Youth & Women Engagement; Ease of Doing Business; and Transparent Procurement.

Considering all those, among other things, you have to give the DA all the budget it needs to bring PH Agriculture from Good Enough to Best!@517


[1]https://www.dpwh.gov.ph/dpwh/news/16817

[2]https://businessmirror.com.ph/2021/09/08/da-to-lawmakers-enact-law-that-will-ensure-funding-for-fmr-program/?fbclid=IwAR17d3oaw7nNSBRdiS89QUrLnemxgsBcfz4YP6Mi54YwIZUpyob5sF-XRdk

[3]https://www.manilatimes.net/2021/06/23/supplements/dar-leads-agriculture-sector-to-the-right-direction/1804223

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