The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) denounces the bloated multi-billion peso allocation for Farm-to-Market Roads (FMRs) in the approved 2026 national budget, describing it as another major conduit for corruption, pork barrel politics, and systematic plunder of public funds under the Marcos Jr. administration.

KMP stressed that FMR funds are closely linked to the entrenched system of congressional allocables and infrastructure pork. Lawmakers are able to influence the identification and location of projects, creating opportunities for standard operating procedures (SOPs), favoritism toward favored contractors, and politicala patronage especially in rural areas where poverty is most severe.

Under the 2026 national budget approved by Congress and signed today by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., allocations for Farm-to-Market Roads under the Department of Agriculture and other infrastructure programs amounting to more than P33 billion have ballooned far beyond original proposals. Instead of addressing farmers’ urgent needs, these funds are being used as congressional and executive pork that are open to political manipulation, kickbacks, and ghost or substandard projects.

“The Farm-to-Market Roads budget has long been one of the dirtiest pockets of corruption in the national budget, and the 2026 budget makes it even worse,” said Danilo Ramos, Chairperson of KMP. “In the name of developing agriculture and helping farmers, billions are poured into road projects that farmers never asked for, never needed, or never even see completed.”

KMP pointed out that the FMR program continues to be implemented without a genuine, farmer-centered development plan. Many FMR projects are built in areas with little or no agricultural production, while real farm communities remain without passable roads, irrigation, post-harvest facilities, or support for production. This exposes FMRs as infrastructure pork designed to generate kickbacks rather than uplift farmers.

“Farm-to-Market Roads have become farm-to-pocket roads,” said Ronnie Manalo, Secretary General of KMP. “These projects are routinely used by politicians and contractors to siphon public funds through overpriced, low-quality, or non-existent roads. Farmers are used as an excuse, but they are not the beneficiaries.”

The 2026 national budget still fails to prioritize genuine land distribution, irrigation systems managed by farmers, support for local production, farmgate price support, and protection against import liberalization. Instead, the Marcos administration continues to rely on infrastructure projects that are easy to pad, manipulate, and use for political survival.

“This regime would rather pour billions into questionable road projects than implement genuine agrarian reform and provide direct production support and compensation to farmers,” Ramos added. “FMRs are being used to mask the anti-farmer character of the Marcos budget while enriching politicians, contractors, and cronies.”

KMP warned that the expansion of FMR funding, amid weak transparency and accountability mechanisms, will only worsen corruption in congressional districts. Without genuine farmer participation, public disclosure, and strict accountability, these projects will remain symbols of waste and exploitation. Out of the P33.9 billion FMR budget for 2026, P4.89 billion will go to Central Luzon, Eastern Visayas will get P4.3 billion, followed by Cagayan Valley P3.782 billion, Soccsksargen with P3.568 billion and Calabarzon will get P2.651 billion.

KMP calls on farmers and the public to scrutinize and oppose the corrupt FMR allocations in the 2026 national budget and to demand a reorientation of agricultural spending away from pork-laden infrastructure and toward genuine, sustainable support for farmers. ###