DA use of funds in building farm-to-market roads questioned

MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Agriculture failed to build enough farm-to-market roads in 2010, and some of the funds earmarked for the project were released even where there were no clearly identified locations for the roads.

A portion of the funds were also allotted for projects other than the construction of roadways meant to help farmers.

These were among the findings of the Commission on Audit (CoA), which said that the delays in the completion of the farm-to-market roads hampered plans to fast-track the delivery of farm products to the market sites.

This, in turn, denied many farmers the opportunity to increase their income and to make food more affordable to the public, the CoA added.

In its 2010 report on the Department of Agriculture, the audit agency said that only a little over half, or 51.43 percent, of the 2,382 kilometers of farm-to-market roads that were supposed to be built in 2010 was completed by the end of the year.

A quarter of the targeted roads were still under construction and the rest have yet to be started.

The farm-to-market road projects due for completion in 2010 cost P6.435 billion.

The DA and its regional field units are supposed to coordinate with local governments, the Department of Public Works and Highways and other stakeholders in the planning and construction of roads and road networks. The construction of farm-to-market roads should also be a priority investment of local government units, which are supposed to provide a counterpart of not less than 10 percent of the project cost.

Among the reasons for the low accomplishment of the farm-to-market road project were political issues, such as the change in administration and the election ban, according to the CoA. Some local governments under a new administration have not made the projects a priority, it added.

Other reasons for the delay were the failure to identify the priority areas or site locations for the implementation of the project before releasing the funds to the agencies; the lack of commitment from LGUs to provide the 10 percent counterpart; the recipient’s delay or non-submission of necessary documents during the pre-implementation stage of the project; unsettled road right of way problems; the agriculture department’s lack of close monitoring and supervision; bad weather; failure of the recipients to liquidate earlier fund transfers, thus delaying succeeding releases; suspension of quarry activities in a particular province.

The CoA also found that P766.4 million were allocated for farm-to-market road projects that were either not properly identified or without site location and description of the projects.

For instance, P132.2 million was allocated for Bohol, but the status report on this only had the remark “no specifics.” Some P101.5 million also went to Batangas and Rizal, but the DA report showed that “site validation” was still being done, it said.

Another P346.85 million was unprogrammed, it added.

The CoA said that P26.45 million was sub-allotted for projects other than the construction of roads. These included the purchase of pumps and engines, mini-tractors, farm inputs, the establishment of a “barangay bagsakan (off-loading points),” and livelihood projects.

Local government units in Region 5 (Bicol Region) also charged P1.207 million in expenses against the farm-to-market road funds, even though these expenses were not related to the projects, the CoA said. The costs charged to the road funds were the procurement of office equipment, traveling expenses, salaries for job orders and fabrication of cabinets, it added.

The audit commission said the regional field unit in the Cordillera region deducted an average of 3.15 percent from the road funds for administrative costs, while local government units in the area were allowed to spend P575,654 for engineering and administrative overhead. This reduced the amounts meant to be used for road construction.

The CoA recommended that the agriculture department direct the implementing agencies to complete the construction of the farm-to-market roads within the time frame specified in the memorandum of agreement. It also called for more coordination with local governments and the DPWH in the pre-implementation phase to avoid delays.

It should also spend the funds on matters directly related to the road projects, and should have proper planning so that only prioritized farm-to-market road projects with complete documentation and site location would be programmed. Regional field units should also closely supervise the road projects, it added.

The Department of Agriculture said regional agricultural engineering groups have tightened the supervision of ongoing projects. It also pledged to meet the targets on farm-to-market roads.