PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. is set to sign a joint administrative order this month outlining a timetable for establishing a farm-to-market road (FMR) network, the Palace said in a statement on Tuesday.
“The FMR order has been approved,” he was quoted as saying in the statement. “We already have a national timetable.”
The order will be signed by officials from the Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Department of Interior and Local Government, Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Tourism.
The order will govern how roads will link to other infrastructure projects, in order to improve the delivery of services and enhance agricultural programs, Mr. Marcos said.
“The DA and DPWH formulated a regional FMR network overlaying the proposed FMR projects with the Strategic Agriculture and Fisheries Development Zone/ Network of Protected Areas for Agriculture and Agro-Industrial Development and production areas,” Acting Press Secretary Cheloy Velicaria-Garafil said in the statement.
The two agencies will also lead an inter-agency workshop on mapping agriculture and fishery production areas, markets, trading posts, and existing road networks and conditions.
In July, Mr. Marcos said he would push for more FMRs to improve food security. — John Victor D. Ordoñez
