Lawmakers are calling for a congressional investigation into alleged systematic corruption and overpricing in farm-to-market road projects implemented by the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

RH Milky Rigonan reports that House Resolution No. 421, filed by Representatives Antonio Tiñio (ACT Teachers Party-list), Renee Co (Kabataan Party-list), and Sarah Elago (Gabriela Women’s Party-list), urges the House Committees on Public Accounts and Agriculture to look into the reported irregularities.

According to the group, based on the National Farm-to-Market Roads Network Plan, the estimated cost per kilometer of road construction should be ₱9.4 million.

However, DA project data reportedly show an average cost of ₱15.9 million per kilometer, or an overprice of ₱6.4 million per kilometer.

The Makabayan bloc cited Senate findings indicating several overpriced projects in Leyte, Camarines Sur, Bulacan, Eastern Samar, and Daraga, Albay, all funded under the 2024 General Appropriations Act.

Farmer group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) also raised concerns that many of the listed projects do not appear in the DPWH Civil Works Contracts Database, suggesting the possible existence of “ghost projects.”

The lawmakers further pointed out that the government still faces a 36,000-kilometer backlog in farm-to-market road construction—evidence, they said, of the DA and DPWH’s failure to deliver on critical infrastructure programs for the agricultural sector.

The resolution seeks a full audit of the projects and accountability for officials involved in what they described as a “systematic misuse of public funds” intended to support farmers.