Local officials are crying foul over what they describe as a “coordinated political hit” by the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) after both agencies allegedly appeared to be singing in unison while singling out the same target, Davao Occidental.
At the center of the controversy is a small-scale Farm-to-Market Road (FMR) project initiated in 2021, which was fully accounted for, audited, and validated, but was suddenly revived in national reports questioning its integrity.
Officials say the FMR, worth only a fraction of the multi-million-peso projects in administration-allied areas, is now “being used as a scapegoat” to justify the alleged irregularities behind the 2025 budget insertions.
“Why attack a ₱10 million project completed years ago while turning a blind eye to billion-peso allocations in friendly territories?” one Capitol insider asked. “This is not oversight, it’s orchestration.”
Officials also pointed to what they called “synchronized messaging” by the DA and DPWH that repeatedly highlighted Davao Occidental. They urged agencies and lawmakers to apply uniform standards across all localities. “If this is truly about transparency, then audit everyone,” a local official said.
The DA recently highlighted the Little Baguio FMR as an example of a project needing attention; provincial officials countered that the presentation omitted the latest progress updates and reasons for schedule adjustments.
The DPWH has separately released materials that, according to local engineers, cite the same project while broader 2025 budget issues are being debated.
Officials said they welcome legitimate reviews by oversight bodies but stressed that findings should reflect complete documentation, field validations, and implementation timelines. They called on agencies to release the latest status reports alongside any observations.
The DA and DPWH had yet to issue detailed responses to the statements at the time of writing. Officials said they will submit updated reports and supporting documents to the relevant committees and line agencies.
Business News Asia