Alongside federalism, charter change and the impeachment hearing of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, abolishing the Road Board was high on the agenda when Congress resumed regular session this week.
“It is high time to abolish the Road Board,” said Sen. Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao Jan. 16 in his sponsorship speech recommending for approval Senate Bill 1620 for such purpose.
Other legislators had similarly proposed abolishing the board, which through the years has come under fire for corruption allegations in managing the motor vehicle user’s charge (MVUC) funds, an amount collected from owners of motor vehicles, and the government’s third largest income source.
The board in response has made one curious claim: it said it is now under the “control and supervision” of the Office of the President.
We fact-checked; Malacañang denies the claim.
STATEMENT
Prior to Pacquiao’s bill, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez and House Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas filed House Bill 6236 also seeking to abolish the Road Board, saying MVUC funds “became an avenue for graft and corruption.”
The board Aug. 25 responded with a press release bearing Malacañang’s seal and using an “Office of the President” letterhead:
“To prevent dissipation of MVUC funds and malfeasance in public office, the Office of the President is now exercising control and supervision over the Road Board.”
Source: Road Board, Press Release, Aug. 27, 2017
In a Sept. 18 budget hearing, Sen. Loren Legarda asked Road Board Executive Director Luisito Clavano to support the claim and show an executive order issuing its transfer under Malacañang.
Clavano told Legarda:
“Under this administration, we got, we got the opinion from the, we were informed by the Department of Justice. They, they came out with a, they came out with a legal opinion that we should be under the Office of the President. So, on that basis, I just, when I got that notice, I informed the departments who are members of the board so that they be informed.”
Source: Senate, Committee on Finance [Subcommittee “A”] (September 18, 2017), watch from 2:13 to 2:50
FACT
The Road Board is not under the Office of the President, according to Malacañang itself.
VERA Files checked with the Malacañang Records Office, which forwarded the query to the Office of the Deputy Executive Secretary for General Administration (ODESGA) “for further clarification.”
In a Jan. 11 email, ODESGA said:
“Please be informed that the Office of the President has not promulgated an issuance placing the Road Board under its control and supervision.”
It said it had received a letter from the board, but declined to provide a copy, citing “internal communication”:
“With regard to your request for a copy of the Road Board’s letter, we regret to inform you that we cannot provide a copy thereof since it is an internal communication between agencies not constituting a final government action.”
BACKSTORY
Four other bills in addition to Pacquiao’s and Alvarez-Fariñas’ seeking to abolish the Road Board had been filed during the 17th Congress, all pending at the committee level.
Efforts to address MVUC funds corruption issues go back since 2009, when former Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago issued a resolution urging the Ombudsman to prosecute the board’s “unconscionable multibillion anomalies.”
Two bills were also filed previously seeking to either improve or scrap the board.
President Rodrigo Duterte himself in a speech Sept. 9, two weeks after the Road Board issued the press release on Malacañang letterhead, said he will abolish the board:
“When I go back next week, I will abolish one to three agencies. ‘Yung Road Board, they have to go. ‘Yung Sugar Regulatory Board, I will abolish it. Just place it in an office.”
Source: RTVM, Speech of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte during his attendance to the Closing Plenary of the 26th Mindanao Business Conference, watch from 18:49 to 19:11
Since 2014, the Commission on Audit (COA) has been noting the Road Board Secretariat goes beyond its mandate and implements projects despite its role limited only to “monitoring the collection, deposit and utilization of MVUC funds.”
In 2016, only 68 of 223 target projects were completed in addition to 156 incomplete projects from prior years, according to COA, attributing this to “ineffective planning and supervision.”
Sources:
Senate of the Philippines, Sen. Emmanuel Pacquiao’s sponsorship speech, Jan. 16, 2017, watch from 1:29:17 to 1:29:20
Senate Bill No. 1620, An Act Abolishing the Road Board and Transferring its powers and Functions Including the Management of the Motor Vehicle User’s Charge Funds to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), and to the Department of Transportation (DOTR), Amending for the Purpose Republic Act No. 8794, Otherwise Known as the Motor Vehicle User’s Charge
House Bill No. 6236, An Act Abolishing the Road Board Created by Republic Act No. 8794 and Transferring Its Powers and Functions to the Department of Public Works and Highways and to the Department of Transportation, Amending for the Purpose of Republic Act No. 8794
House Bill No. 5683, An Act Abolishing the Road Board and Transferring its powers and Functions Including the Management of the Motor Vehicle User’s Charge Funds to the Department of Public Works and Highways and to the Department of Transportation Amending for the Purpose Republic Act No. 8794, Otherwise Known as the Motor Vehicle User’s Charge
House Bill No. 4466, An Act Abolishing the Road Board and Transferring its powers and Functions Including the Management of the Motor Vehicle User’s Charge Funds to the Department of Public Works and Highways and to the Department of Transportation Amending for the Purpose Republic Act No. 8794, the Law Imposing the Motor Vehicle User’s Charge
House Bill No. 3278, An Act Abolishing the Road Board Created by Virtue of Republic Act No. 8794 and Transferring Its Powers and Functions to the Department of Public Works and Highways and to the Department of Transportation and Communications, Amending for the Purpose of Republic Act No. 8794
House Bill No. 3855, An Act Abolishing the Road Board Created by Virtue of Republic Act No. 8794 and Transferring Its Powers and Functions to the Department of Public Works and Highways and to the Department of Transportation, Amending for the Purpose of Republic Act No. 8794
Senate Bill No. 3131, An Act Abolishing the Road Board Created by Virtue of Republic Act No. 8794 and Transferring Its Powers and Functions to the Department of Public Works and Highways and to the Department of Transportation and Communications, Amending for the Purpose of Republic Act No. 8794
Senate Bill No. 1792, An Act Amending Republic Act No. 8794 Otherwise Known as An Act Imposing a Motor Vehicle User’s Charge on Owners of All Types of Motor Vehicles
Senate Resolution No. 1413, Resolution recommending to the Ombudsman the prosecution of the Road Board by its Chair, and its Secretariat led by the Executive Director, for Unconscionable Multi-Billion Anomalies Reported by the Commission on Audit; Recommending Amendment or Repeal of the Motor User’s Vehicle User’s Charge Act; And in any case, recommending the creation of the special Senate Oversight Committee on the Road User’s Tax
Republic Act No. 8794, An Act Imposing a Motor Vehicle User’s Charge on Owners of All Types of Motor Vehicles and for Other Purposes
Commission on Audit, Road Board (Motor Vehicle User’s Charge Funds), 2016
(Guided by the code of principles of the International Fact-Checking Network at Poynter, VERA Files tracks the false claims, flip-flops, misleading statements of public officials and figures, and debunks them with factual evidence. Find out more about this initiative.)
