Dozens of House members asked for Road Board funds, document shows

Dozens of House members have requested allocations from the Road Board even with President Rodrigo Duterte's declaration in late 2017 that he wanted the agency abolished due to alleged corruption.

This is according to a document that House Majority Leader Rolando Andaya said came from the Road Board itself. 

The Road Board is tasked by law to identify and propose allocations for road projects to be funded by proceeds from the Motor Vehicle Users' Charge—the tax paid whenever their cars are registered with the Land Transportation Office.

Among the names that figured in the list were those of former Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas and PBA party-list Representative Jericho Nograles.

Farinas, according to the document, requested more than P277 million from the Road Board to fund five infrastructure projects in the first district of Ilocos Norte, which he represents.

Nograles, although not representing a legislative district, supposedly requested more than P485 million to fund eight infrastructure projects in the first and second districts of Ifugao, the fourth district of Isabela, and the second district of Northern Samar.

Other congressmen who requested funds from the Road Board include:

1. Taguig City-Pateros Rep. Arnel Cerafica
2. Kabayan party-list Rep. Ron Salo
3. Pangasinan 6th District Rep. Marlyn Primcias-Agabas
4. LPGMA party-list Rep. Arnel Ty
5. ANAC-IP party-list Rep. Jose Panganiban
6. Isabela 3rd District Rep. Napoleon Dy
7. Isabela 4th District Rep. Ma. Lourdes Aggabao
8. Nueva Vizcaya Rep. Luisa Lloren Cuaresma
9. Aurora Rep. Bellaflor Angara-Castillo
10. CIBAC party-list Rep. Sherwin Tugna
11. Pampanga 3rd District Rep. Aurelio "Dong" Gonzales
12. MATA party-list Rep. Tricia Velasco-Catera
13. Batangas 3rd District Rep. Ma. Theresa Collantes
14. Cavite 2nd District Rep. Strike Revilla
15. Cavite 7th District Rep. Abraham Tolentino
16. Bagong Henerasyon party-list Rep. Bernadette Herrera-Dy
17. AGBIAG party-list Rep. Michelle Antonio
18. Antipolo City 2nd District Rep. Romeo Acop
19. 1-PACMAN party-list Rep. Michael Romero
20. Camarines Sur 5th District Rep. Salvio Fortuno
21. Catanduanes Rep. Cesar Sarmiento
22. Southern Leyte Rep. Roger Mercado
23. Zamboanga Del Sur 2nd District Rep. Aurora Cerilles
24. Zamboanga Sibugay Rep. Ann Hofer
25. Cagayan De Oro City 2nd District Rep. Maximo Rodriguez
26. AASENSO party-list Rep. Teodoro Montoro
27. COOP NATCCO party-list Rep. Sabiniano Canama
28. Akbayan party-list Rep. Tom Villarin
29. North Cotabato 2nd District Rep. Nancy Catamco
30. North Cotabato 3rd District Rep. Jose Tejada
31. Surigao Del Norte 2nd District Rep. Robert Ace Barbers
32. Surigao Del Norte 1st District Rep. Francisco Jose Matugas
33. Surigao Del Sur 1st District Rep. Prospero Pichay
34. Surigao Del Sur 2nd District Rep. Johnny Pimentel
35. Kalinga Rep. Allen Jesse Mangaoang
36. Nueva Ecija 2nd District Rep. Micaela Violago
37. Iligan City Rep. Frederick Siao

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon and Senator Sonny Angara, and several district engineers, were also listed as among those who requested funds from the Road Board for their infrastructure projects.

Andaya said that he and Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo did not request any funding  from the Road Board, contrary to the claim of Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno, who claimed that the majority leader asked him about the status of the funds.

"Ano naman ang rason ko para lumapit sa kanya e ni isang request wala ako doon. So wala naman akong karapatan mag follow up sa kanya dahil wala akong hinihingi. Pati po yung ating Speaker, wala ring pong request para i-release," Andaya said at a press conference on Wednesday.

Fariñas, however, denied that his district received funds from the Road Board.

"I just checked with DPWH Region 1 Director Ronnel Tan and he says that his office or my district did not receive any Road Board funds," Fariñas told reporters.

"In fact, it was [former] Speaker [Pantaleon] Alvarez and I who were the principal authors [of the bill] for the abolition of the Road Board, and such was approved on third and final reading under our watch," he added.

The House under Arroyo's leadership, however, recalled the approval of the bill.

Fariñas said out that the law providing for the creation of the Road Board allowed it to "usurp" the power of Congress to appropriate public funds, as Diokno has said, causing an "undue delegation of legislative powers."

"Since the House had approved its abolition, with the Senate giving its concurrence, and the President saying he will approve such bill, why is the present House leadership so desirous to keep it alive?" he said.

For his part, Nograles said he had not seen the document presented by Andaya before, but he admitted that he referred many projects to all agencies nationwide including the Road Board.

He said, however, that "it is entirely up to the agencies to act on my referred projects.

"I do not know if there are approvals or disapprovals by the agencies," he added.

The Road Board is tasked to oversee the funds from the Motor Vehicle User's Charge collections, supposedly to be used only for road maintenance, road drainage improvement, installation of traffic lights and road safety devices and air pollution control.

Alvarez, however, claimed that road user's tax under the Road Board is being used as a "source of corruption," as the board allegedly has been offering projects to some lawmakers where they can have a share of kickbacks from a selected contractor. —NB, GMA News