PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte agreed to withdraw his order abolishing the Road Board, House Majority Leader Rolando G. Andaya, Jr. claimed on Wednesday, thereby allowing its funding to be distributed.
He said Mr. Duterte ordered the board to continue operations over dinner at the Palace sometime in mid-September.
“He (President) ordered the continued release of Road Board funds, suggesting that its operations will continue,” Mr. Andaya said in a briefing.
“What he told me was Road Board Executive Director Luisito V. Clavano resigned but he did not accept his resignation. I asked the President what that meant and he said he still trusts the man. The President believes Mr. Clavano can still fix the system and so, release the budget.
Also present during the meeting was Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and then Special Assistant to the President Christopher Lawrence T. Go.
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador S. Panelo has said that Mr. Duterte is inclined to sign the bill abolishing the board once it is transmitted to his office.
The board manages the Motor Vehicle User’s Charge (MVUC), collected to maintain the road network. Its ex-officio chairman is the Secretary of Public Works, while its members include the Budget, Finance, and Transportation Secretaries, as well as representatives of the motoring and transportation industries.
Mr. Andaya expressed doubts that Mr. Panelo has spoken to the President. “We already did, and the policy was very clear to us,” he said.
He also said that while the Senate has adopted the measure abolishing the board, Mr. Duterte cannot sign it because it was not signed by Speaker Arroyo.
“On this point the House of Representatives withdrew its support unanimously for the bill, so the Speaker is not authorized to sign the bill,” he said.
Mr. Andaya said the bill being pushed by the Senate will not entirely abolish the Road Board.
“What they’re proposing is to move from a seven-man Road Board to three road kings.”
Meanwhile, the Senate formally transmitted to Malacañang a resolution urging the Office of the President to bar the board from releasing the MVUC.
Resolution No. 134, released to reporters on Tuesday evening, requests the President to hold on to the funds in light of the approval of House Bill No. 7436, which abolished the Road Board.
“Considering the passage of House Bill No. 7436 in both houses of Congress and the President’s announced intention to abolish the Road Board and transfer its functions to an appropriate department, the Road Board should no longer be allowed to release any funds collected from the MVUC,” the Senators said in their resolution.
The resolution was unanimously adopted by the Senate last week in the presence of Executive Secretary Salvador C. Medialdea.
The resolution reiterated the Senate’s position that the Road Board should be abolished, noting that the agency has become a “breeding ground for corruption and inefficiency a shown in various reports by the Commission on Audit (COA) over the past years.”
It also noted that the total MVUC collections from 2001 to May 2018 amounted to P166.18 billion, with total releases of P136.87 billion.
The bill abolishing the Road Board has remained in limbo after the Senate adopted House Bill No. 7436 on Sept. 12. Hours later, the House of Representatives moved to rescind its third reading approval of the bill.
Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III has told reporters that the chamber considers the Road Board abolished as of the Senate adoption of the resolution. However, House Majority Leader Rolando G. Andaya, Jr. said the House of Representatives withdrew its support to the measure, rendering Speaker Gloria M. Arroyo unable to sign the bill that was supposed to be transmitted to Malacanang.
Given the deadlock between two chambers, Mr. Sotto has said it was about time for Congress to resolve the matter in a “proper venue,” such as the courts.
The Road Board was created by Republic Act No. 8794.
Under House Bill No. 7436, which the Senate adopted but the House rescinded, the MVUC collections will be remitted directly to the National Treasury and will be appropriated for projects of the Departments of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and Transportation (DoTr). — Charmaine A. Tadalan and Camille A. Aguinaldo
