MANILA – Leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives have agreed to introduce “short and simple” amendments to the measure that will abolish the Road Board.
Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri said the agreement was made during a meeting with Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto and House Majority Leader Rolando Andaya on Tuesday evening.
“The meeting was successful,” Zubiri said in a statement on Wednesday. “We agreed that all monies collected from the road user’s tax will be remitted to the National Treasury.”
Zubiri added that the road user’s tax’s funds will be included in the annual General Appropriations Act and will be used for the construction, repair and rehabilitation of roads, bridges, and road drainage.
He also said that he hopes his colleagues at the senators will agree to recall the earlier measure abolishing the road board and made some amendments in a bicameral conference committee.
The senator earlier said there is no need for a bicameral conference committee on the Road Board abolition bill since it has already adopted the House version.
Andaya, for his part, said that the agreement to “genuinely abolish the Road Board” is a “victory for transparency” as his fellow congressman stand pat on treating the road user’s tax or the motor vehicle user’s charge collections as part of the general fund.
“The House-Senate consensus spared the President of signing a defective bill, which some powerful interests wanted him to. The attempt to hoodwink the President has been foiled,” Andaya said.
The Road Board oversees funds collected from the Motor Vehicle User’s Charge, which were solely used for road maintenance and drainage improvement, installation of traffic lights and road safety devices, and monitoring air pollution./PN