House panel eyes Road Board abolition

THE House Good Government and Public Accountability panel is keen on abolishing the Road Board, claiming there was rampant misuse of its funding.

Rep. Johnny Pimentel of Surigao del Sur, chairman of the House Good Government and Public Accountability panel, said in a statement on Sunday his committee would work double-time to pass House Bill 6236 filed by Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez of Davao del Norte, which abolishes the Road Board by transferring its functions to the Department of Public Works and Highways and the Department of Transportation.

“Given these figures, I agree with the proposal for its abolition,” Pimentel said in a statement.

Alvarez’s measure states that based on Commission on Audit records, P1.6 billion of Road Board funding was tainted with irregularities, and that there was a discrepancy of P1.495 billion in road users’ taxes collected from 2001 to 2010 based on tallies declared of the Land Transportation Office and the Bureau of the Treasury.

Alvarez’s bill also cited Commission on Audit records showing that P90.72 billion of the Road Board Fund was illegally utilized.

“The Road Board is just another layer of bureaucracy which has become an avenue for graft and corruption,” Alvarez said in his proposal.

The Road Board was formed under Republic Act 8794. It imposes a motor vehicle users’ charge on owners of all types of motor vehicles.

The board is tasked to ensure prudent and efficient management and use of the special funds known as the Road Users’ Tax (or Road Fund)— earmarked exclusively for road maintenance and improvement of road drainage, installation of efficient traffic lights and road safety devices, and reducing air pollution.

Under the law, the road users’ tax should be remitted to the National Treasury and appropriated to the proper government departments such as the Department of Public Works and Highways and the Department of Transportation— agencies in charge of implementing road safety measures and projects.