The House of Representatives on Wednesday recalled the passage of a bill authored by former Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez abolishing the Road Board.
This came after the House, in plenary session, overwhelmingly approved the motion of House Majority Leader and Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr., to cancel the approval of the Road Board abolition under House Bill 7436 of Alvarez.
“With leave of the House, I move that we rescind approval of the said bill and that we will no longer pursue its passage,” said Andaya, whose motion was approved by deputy speaker and Palawan Rep. Frederick Abueg, the presiding officer, after hearing no objections from their colleagues.
Alvarez’s bill was approved on third and final reading last May and has reached the bicameral conference committee.
The bill has proposed to abolish the Road Board and transfer its functions to the Department of Public Works and Highways and to the Department of Transportation, as the Road Board “is allegedly a source of corruption for some of its officials.”
Alvarez earlier said that over the years, the Commission on Audit has unearthed signs of alleged illegal utilization of the Road Fund, estimated to have amounted to a total of P90.72 billion from 2001 to December 2012.
The bill also noted the CoA reports that some P515.50 million of the Road Fund was used in 2004 to 2008 for payment of salaries, allowances, maintenance, and other operating expenses, which were properly chargeable to the regular budget.
In 2011, P62.52 million of the Road Fund was used for the Road Board’s engineering and administrative overhead expenses, Alvarez said, quoting the CoA findings.
In 2013, Alvarez said CoA also uncovered irregularities in the use of more than P1.66 billion of the funds.
Alvarez added that the CoA has pointed out that from 2001 to 2010, there were discrepancies amounting to P1.495 billion in the total collection of Road User’s Tax between the collections declared by the Land Transportation Office and the certification from the Bureau of Treasury.
In filing HB 6236, Alvarez said the Road Board was created under Republic Act 8794, which imposed a motor vehicle users’ charge on owners of all types of motor vehicles.
The law provides that the board is tasked to ensure prudent and efficient management and use of the special funds known as the Road User’s Tax (or Road Fund), which is earmarked solely and exclusively for road maintenance and improvement of road drainage, installation of efficient traffic lights and road safety devices, and air pollution control.