Probe of ‘ghost’ farm roads pushed

MINORITY lawmakers last week filed a resolution seeking a congressional inquiry into alleged “ghost” farm-to-market roads, as scrutiny intensifies over a widening government scandal involving flood infrastructure projects.

The Agriculture department’s farm-to-market road projects were overpriced by roughly P6.4 million compared to agency estimates, according to House Resolution (HR) No. 421, which flagged potential misuse of public funds alike to the multibillion-peso flood control controversy.

The House public accounts and agriculture panels should “conduct a thorough investigation into all farm-to-market roads for possible overpricing and corruption,” the resolution, authored by Party-list Reps. Antonio L. Tinio, Sarah Jane I. Elago and Renee Louise M. Co., read.

“There is a need to thoroughly scrutinize the national farm-to-market road network plan 2023-2028 formulated and finalized during the stint of President Marcos, Jr. as the Agriculture secretary,” it added.

The Marcos administration is facing mounting scrutiny over a widening flood control scandal, with key politicians, government officials and private contractors accused of colluding to swindle the state of billions of pesos through substandard or nonexistent flood mitigation projects.

Allegations have also emerged that farm-to-market roads — part of a government initiative to improve connectivity between agricultural lots and markets — were themselves a conduit of corruption.

Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian said last month the government may have lost more than P10 billion to inflated rural road project costs, citing roughly 689 kilometers (km) of farm roads from 1,653 contracts flagged for overpricing.

HR No. 421 said an average kilometer of a typical rural road should be P9.486 million per km, citing Agriculture department documents. But project costs shot up by 67.72% to P15.91 million per km to ensure structural integrity and climate proofing. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio