DA to Launch 'FMR WATCH' Platform, Calls for Citizen Crowdsourcing to Fight Corruption in Farm Road Projects

DA WILL LAUNCH FMR WATCH TO MONITOR FARM TO MARKET ROAD PROJECT OF THE GOVERNMENT

Logo of Department of Agriculture| DA Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr. is urging farmers, local governments, and ordinary citizens to help monitor the Farm to Market Road project of the government

The Department of Agriculture (DA) is escalating its campaign against corruption and inefficiency in rural infrastructure by announcing the imminent launch of a powerful public accountability tool: the Farm-to-Market Road (FMR) Watch.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr. has issued an urgent call to action, urging farmers, local government units (LGUs), and ordinary citizens to take on the role of digital site inspectors. The Secretary warns that abuses in FMR construction continue to be a severe drag on national food production and the income of Filipino farmers.

Transparency is the New Pavement

The FMR Watch platform, set to go live soon, is designed to be a digital lifeline that connects construction sites directly to the DA's central office, bypassing layers of potential bureaucratic delay and graft.

“We will do a number of things like the FMR Watch website, wherein our netizens or ordinary citizens or local government officials could help monitoring projects and upload photos into that website so we at the DA could track their progress, or lack thereof,” Secretary Tiu Laurel said in a recent statement.

“We need everyone’s help to monitor all of these FMR projects in order to do them properly at the fastest possible time. These initiatives, we believe, will greatly help in keeping everyone honest and ensure precious public funds do not end up in some unscrupulous individual’s pockets.” - DA Secretary Tiu Laurel emphasized that broad participation is the only way to safeguard public funds.

The DA’s aggressive push for transparency comes amid a massive infrastructural challenge. The agency estimates that out of the required 131,000 kilometers of FMRs nationwide, over 60,000 kilometers remain unbuilt.

The FMR WATCH is more than just a website; it is the DA’s public declaration that the era of "ghost roads" and substandard work will be replaced by an era of collective responsibility and digital accountability, ensuring every peso spent directly benefits the nation's farmers.

Source: Department of Agriculture

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