Despite statements from the Palace stating otherwise, House Majority Leader Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr. said Wednesday that President Rodrigo Duterte wants the Road Board to continue and to disburse funds from the road user’s tax.
Andaya’s statement flew in the face of a Palace statement earlier this week that the President was ready to sign a bill abolishing the Road Board.
Andaya said he and House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had met with the President and his former assistant, Christopher Go, to discuss what to do with the graft-ridden Road Board.
Former speaker and Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez had earlier proposed the agency’s abolition.
“Speaker [Arroyo] and I personally asked the President about his stance on the Road Board. All of us agreed to allow it to exist under the stewardship of Mr. Chito Clavano, who earlier resigned but whose resignation was rejected by the President. It is with this policy direction that the House of Representatives withdrew the proposal to abolish the Road Board,” Andaya said.
“We asked [the President] what he meant when he rejected the resignation [of Clavano]. He told us he still trusted the person. I think he still believes there is still a chance to cleanse the system of the agency. He even told us to go on with the release of project funds. That was how we understand things. That’s the reason why we withdrew the proposed law [to abolish the board],” he said.
Congress earlier approved House Bill 7436 to abolish the Road Board due to grave allegations of misappropriation of public funds, and graft and corruption of its multi-billion peso revenues.
The Senate has adopted the House bill and approved it as well, but Andaya said the approval has been rescinded.
The Road Board oversees the funds from the motor vehicle user’s charge collections being exclusively used for road maintenance and improvement of road drainage, installation of traffic lights and road safety devices and air pollution control.
It has also been open to abuse, particularly in the way funds are allocated and disbursed.
Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno, meanwhile, said some lawmakers have been following up the release of funds from the Motor Vehicle User’s Charge (MVUC) or road users tax for their districts, which he said might be diverted for other uses fopr the upcoming 2019 midterm elections.
Asked if Andaya and Minority Leader Danilo Suarez were among the congressmen following up on the funds status, the Budget chief said yes.
“Lots of congressmen, yes. Yes, they were included,” he said.
Andaya, however, denied the Cabinet official’s statement.
“I don’t talk to him Perhaps Congressman Suarez, but I don’t talk to him on matters like that,” the Majority Leader told reporters during his press conference.
Andaya noted he could not have followed up on the road user’s tax as Diokno claimed. He said he did not even make a request for any project to be approved by the Road Board.
“I have no reason to approach [Diokno],” he said. “I have not even one request [with the DBM], so I don’t have the right to follow up with him, because I asked for nothing.” the lawmaker said.
Both Andaya and Suarez bombarded Diokno with questions during a budget hearing and accused him of illegally inserting P75 billion into the 2019 budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways.
Suarez on Wednesday said lawmakers may request allocation from the road user’s tax, but could not touch 80 percent of the fund that automatically goes to the construction and improvement of roads.
He rejected the abolition of the Road Board, which oversees the fund allocation.
Earlier, former speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said lawmakers could earn from the P45 billion road users tax if the Road Board is not abolished.
Suarez disputed this claim.
“We can only ask through the appeal of our constituents if a certain portion [of our roads] could be fixed. We would request the line agency if that would be possible and if that could be programmed in the following year. We [just] cannot tell them [to do so],” he told radio dzMM.
“The allegation that lawmakers — congressmen and senators — meddling … that’s not true. That’s not happening,” he said.
After the House took back its approval of a bill abolishing the board, Senate President Vicente Sotto III said the issue may have to be settled in court.
In maintaining that the Road Board was “good as abolished” after both the House and the Senate agreed to dissolve it, Sotto said “perhaps somebody should bring it to the proper venue if they (House) would insist.
“As far as we are concerned, it’s abolished. We adopted the House version, it’s as good as a bill that is supposed to be transmitted to the President already and I’m sure the President will sign it,” Sotto said.
If the current bill is not signed, a new one could be filed in Jul next year by a new Congress, he said.
“Those who wanted the Road Board will no longer be around after June 30,” he added.
READ: Rody ready to abolish Road Board
READ: Senate keen on probe of ‘parked’ pork