Redundant

Which agency is in charge of maintaining roads, im- proving road drainage, installing road safety devices and traffic lights, and even air pollution control?

Not an executive department or local government units, but an office called the Road Board. The agency received news coverage in recent years, mainly when it was linked to anomalies in the use of the Motor Vehicle User’s Charge or Road User’s Tax.

Now the Road Board is in the news again, with Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez pushing for its abolition. The reason? Alvarez, citing findings of the Commission on Audit, says approximately P90.7 billion has been lost to corruption in the Road Board from 2001 to 2012 alone.

Alvarez has filed a bill seeking to abolish the Road Board and transfer its functions to executive departments such as public works and highways, transportation, and environment and natural resources. He is not the first to make the proposal. Lawmakers in previous Congresses have made similar calls. In July last year, Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III had also sought the abolition of the board, which was created through Republic Act 8794, the law that imposed the Road User’s Tax in June 2000.

Both Pimentel and Alvarez cited the same Commission on Audit findings on the misuse of the tax. Even without the COA report, however, motorists have long wondered how the road tax is spent. This is like the amusement tax collected in movie houses, which is supposed to go to flood control. Where does the money go? Even an ordinary downpour can spawn floods in many parts of Metro Manila.

The Road Board is headed ex officio by the secretary of public works and highways, with the secretaries of finance, budget and transportation as members along with representatives of transport and motorist organizations. President Duterte has often said he wants to get rid of redundancies and trim bureaucratic fat. For both Congress and Malacañang, the Road Board is a good place to start.