AGRICULTURE Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. personally filed complaints before the Office of the Ombudsman against several officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways and private contractors over alleged “ghost” farm-to-market road (FMR) projects in Davao Occidental worth P94 million.

According to Laurel, a total of eight cases were filed against six DPWH officials, including district and project engineers, as well as eight private contractors in the province.

The complaints stemmed from alleged ghost farm-to-market road projects funded under the 2021 national budget.

Laurel said he personally inspected the project sites involved in the complaints, although copies of the complaints have yet to be released to the media.

“I personally visited these sites last year, and there was really nothing there — zero,” Laurel said in an ambush interview after filing the complaint before the Ombudsman.

The agriculture chief added that while dirt roads existed in the area, there were no concrete roads, steel materials, or any indication that actual infrastructure projects had been implemented.

“There are dirt roads, but no cement, no steel, nothing at all,” the secretary added.