The Road Board: What we know

In a move to provide special funds for the maintenance of national roads and cutting down on air pollution, RA 8794 was signed in 2000 by then-President Joseph Estrada imposing a Motor Vehicle User's Charge (MVUC) on vehicles whether for private, for hire, or for  public use.

Such funds, also known as the road user's tax, has been under the authority of the Road Board, an inter-agency body created to ensure that the collections from the implementation of RA 8794 are being used for its purposes mandated by law.

Recently, however, the Road Board has been the subject of much attention, after former Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez claimed that the road user's tax under the agency has been a "source of corruption."

Alvarez also claimed that the funds under the Road Board was one of the reasons of the ongoing squabble between the incumbent House leadership and Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno, who was supposedly being forced to release funds from the road user's tax.

With all the allegations and exchange of claims, one may ask —what exactly is the function of the Road Board? Why is it important? How is it supposedly used in corruption activities?

Dedicated funds

House Minority Leader Danilo Suarez, the author of the measure seeking to establish the Road Board, explained that such a body was conceptualized at a time when there was a need for dedicated funds to be used for maintaining national roads.

"Nung kino-conceptualize ko yang Road Board, with the assistance of IMF-WB (International Monetary Fund - World Bank), that was the time na hindi pa masyadong liquid ang pananalapi ng bansa and they want some dedicated funds na mailagay sa pag-aayos ng ating national roads," Suarez said in a News To Go interview on Wednesday.

In an earlier press conference, Suarez said the Bureau of Treasury deposits funds it receives from the Land Transportation Office to four special trust accounts corresponding to the purposes of the MVUC.

These funds are then proportioned to the four main purposes of the MVUC under RA 8794 --- 80 percent for maintenance of national roads, 5 percent for maintenance of local roads, 7.5 percent for road safety, and 7.5 percent for vehicle pollution control.

Suarez also pointed out that, contrary to the claims of Alvarez, no lawmaker has control over the funds under the Road Board.

He said that the present structure of the Road Board is composed of the secretaries of the Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Transportation, Department of Finance, and the Department of Budget and Management, and three representatives from the private sector.

Suarez believes that the road user's tax and the Road Board are important to make sure that roads are safe to use and are properly maintained.

"The Road Board has clearly limited authority on the funds. The entire procurement processes are in the hands of the implementing agencies," he said in the press conference.

"Kapag na-abolish mo ang Road Board, mawawala ang dedicated funds to address pollution, safety, at tsaka yung control of traveling vehicles on national road," he added.

Corruption?

Suarez himself, however, seems knowledgeable about how the road user's tax under the Road Board is being used for corruption.

In the press conference, Suarez said "some former leaders" have asked for a "sizeable" amount from the road user's tax to be used as "parked" funds for their pet projects.

"Sinabi lang nila sa amin na they were being asked by some leaders to dedicate "X" amount of the money, which by that time nasa P40 billion, for some of their, what we call parking projects. Yung gusto nilang maglagay ng projects sa iba’t ibang lugar, with the threat na kapag hindi niyo ibinigay iaa-abolish namin kayo," he added.

Suarez refused to name the leaders he was talking about. He also did not give further details as to which agencies, departments or institutions they headed.

Alvarez, however, has a different version of the story. He said that it was actually the Road Board who has been offering projects to some lawmakers where they can have a share of kickbacks from a selected contractor.

“Kung sino yung gusto nilang bigyan na congressman, binibigyan nila. Depende yan kung anong usapan niyo sa Road Board,” Alvarez said in a News To Go report on Tuesday.

Alvarez also admitted that the Road Board once asked him for a list of projects to be funded when he was still the Speaker of the House.

Abolition of the Road Board

Amid the supposed corruption activities involving the Road Board, Malacañang said President Rodrigo Duterte would sign any bill seeking to abolish the inter-agency body.

This, however, is not as easy as it sounds, as only the Senate that has a pending bill for such purpose, after it adopted the House version of the measure that the latter recalled later on.

Suarez admitted that he got hurt that there are moves to abolish an agency that he himself pushed for the creation.

"Parang ang lumalabas ay gumawa ako ng batas na naging source ng corruption, which is wrong. The law has good intentions, it was not properly implemented. That's beyond me," he said in the News To Go interview.

But if the government really wanted to abolish the Road Board, he cannot do something about it anymore, Suarez said.

"Gusto ko lang linawin na walang masamang ginawa ang Road Board. Lahat kabutihan. But it was not properly managed for some other reason," he said.

"Malinis ang konsensiya ko, wala kaming ginawang masamang intention on that funds within the Road Board," he added. —LBG, GMA news