Central Luzon received the biggest share of the P33-billion farm-to-market (FMR) roads allocation in the proposed P6.793-trillion national budget for 2026.
According on the 2026 General Appropriations Bill approved by the Bicameral Conference Committee composed of the House and the Senate, Central Luzon—composed of the provinces of Aurora, Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac, and Zambales, as well as Angeles City and Olongapo City—received a budget of P4.89 billion for farm-to-market roads, over P400 million more than the second largest allocation, for Eastern Visayas.
The FMR allocations in the proposed budget are:
- Central Luzon (Region 3) – P4.89 billion
- Eastern Visayas (Region 8) – P4.4 billion
- Cagayan Valley (Region 2) – P3.78 billion
- SOCCSKSARGEN (Region 12) – P3.57 billion.
- Calabarzon (Region 4-A) – P2.65 billion
- Ilocos Region (Region 1) – P1.84 billion
- Northern Mindanao (Region 10) – P1.56 billion.
- Bicol Region (Region 5) – P1.51 billion
- Davao Region (Region 11) – P1.5 billion
- Western Visayas (Region 6) – P1.43 billion
- Central Visayas (Region 7) – P1.31 billion
- Zamboanga Peninsula (Region 9) – P1.22 billion
- Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) – P939.7 million
- Caraga (Region 13) – P798 million
- Mimaropa (Region 4-B) – P480 million
The proposed 2026 budget also mandates transparency in all infrastructure projects, including FMRs.
As such, all agencies of the government are required post the following documents (in optical character recognition format), on their respective websites, within the period indicated:
- the project title, location, including the exact coordinates, and detailed description; detailed estimates in arriving at the Approved Budget for the contract;
- feasibility study, detailed engineering design, program of work, right of way acquisition, proof of coordination with the LGUs where the project will be implemented;
- winning contractor and/or supplier, the detailed estimates of the bid as awarded, source of fund, mode of procurement, implementing office,
- construction start date and target completion date to be posted within 30 calendar days from entering into contract;
- the detailed actual cost of the project; and variation orders issued, if any, should be posted within 30 calendar days from the issuance of a certificate of completion; and
- quarterly status update, including geotagged photos, of the project, and in case of delay, state the reason/s.
Further, the proposed 2026 budget—awaiting President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr.’s signature for it to become law—mandates all agencies to post updates on the financial and physical status of infrastructure projects in the Project Digital Information for Monitoring and Evaluation (DIME) transparency website, subject to the guidelines that may be issued by the Department of Budget and Management.
In addition, the proposed 2026 budget provides that all implementing agencies should maintain an online infrastructure transparency dashboard on its official website, accessible to the public. — BM, GMA Integrated News
