QUEZON CITY – DA-BAFE Director Ariodear Rico announced that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. who is concurrently the Secretary of Agriculture has already approved a Joint Administrative Order which consolidates and integrates the efforts of concerned agencies for the formulation and implementation of the National Network of Farm-to-Market Roads (FMRs).
DA-BAFE Director Ariodear Rico announces the approval of Joint Administrative Order No. 01 Series of 2023 during the Localization of the National Network of Farm-to-Market Roads Development Plan 2023-2028 and BAFE-RAEDs Meeting held on February 21, 2023 at the Axiaa Hotel in West Avenue, Quezon City.
Joint Administrative Order No. 01 Series of 2023, signed by the respective Secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Tourism (DOT), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), and the Senior Undersecretary of the Department of Agriculture (DA), takes effect starting February 16, 2023.
During his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) in July 2022, President Marcos directed the DA and DPWH to formulate a National Network of FMRs which shall link the production areas to market. President Marcos expressed his intention to finish all FMR projects within his term of office.
The said JAO covers the establishment and maintenance of FMR common database through web-based systems (ABEMIS and GeoAgri), formulation and updating of the Farm-to-Market Road Network Plan at the national and local levels (regional, provincial, city, and municipal), and the formulation and updating of national and local FMR network investment plans.
To consolidate information related to FMR projects, DA-BAFE and Caraga State University developed GeoAgri. GeoAgri is a common portal for all FMR implementing government agencies and LGUs to foster transparency in governance, maximized resource allocation, and minimized project duplication and overlaps.
Dir. Rico made the announcement during the Localization of the National Network of Farm-to-Market Roads Development Plan 2023-2028 and BAFE-RAEDs Meeting held on February 21, 2023.
“Now that the Joint Administrative Order is signed and in effect, the implementation of FMRs is not only the responsibility of DA and DPWH but will involve DILG, local government units (LGUs), DTI, and DOT,” said Dir. Rico in his opening message.
“We need to localize, we have to implement the FMRs in the province, district, and municipal level through a convergence of government efforts,” Dir. Rico added.
DA-BAFE Assistant Director Juana Tapel presents the salient features of the National Network of FMRs Development Plan to the participants of the Localization of the National Network of Farm-to-Market Roads Development Plan 2023-2028 and BAFE-RAEDs Meeting held on February 21, 2023 at the Axiaa Hotel in West Avenue, Quezon City.
Meanwhile, DA-BAFE Assistant Director Juana Tapel presented the salient features of the National Network of FMRs Development Plan. She emphasized that the plan is not a stand-alone because it has a partner digital component in the form of ABEMIS and GeoAgri.
According to Asst. Dir. Tapel, the National Network of FMRs Development Plan’s policy directions are anchored on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 1 and 2, No Poverty and Zero Hunger.
Furthermore, the plan is aligned with NEDA’s revised Philippine Development Plan, Ambisyon 2040 on the interventions and PBBM’s 8-point agenda where FMRs is part of the flagship program of the current administration. The plan’s major features are cross referenced with National Agricultural and Fisheries Mechanization Plan (NAFMP) which is currently under revision.
While DA-BAFE spearheaded the development of the National Network of FMRs Development Plan, other concerned national government agencies that implement FMRs namely DPWH, DTI, DILG, and DOT contributed their respective inputs to the plan.
With President Marcos’ approval of the Joint Administrative Order, DA-BAFE acting as the Program Management Office of the Farm-to-Market Road Development Program (PMO FMRDP) would be in a better position to cascade the National Network of FMRs Development Plan to the local government units in the provincial, city, and municipal levels all over the country. ###DA-BAFE ICTST
Participants of the National Network of Farm-to-Market Roads Development Plan 2023-2028 and BAFE-RAEDs Meeting held from February 21 to 24, 2023 at the Axiaa Hotel in West Avenue, Quezon City include representatives from Regional Agricultural Engineering Divisions of DA-Regional Field Offices, Provincial Local Government Units (Ilocos Norte and Camarines Norte), Municipal Local Government Units (Hermosa, Bataan; Norzagaray, Bulacan; Daet and Labo Camarines Norte).
Date Published: February 27, 2022