P90-B worth of Road Board projects in 2017 unexplained —Sotto

Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Sunday said that P90 billion worth of projects by the Road Board in 2017 were unexplained.

In an interview on Super Radyo dzBB, Sotto said this explains why Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno refused to release the Road Board’s budget as instructed by President Rodrigo Duterte.

“'Yung 2017 na COA (Commission on Audit) report, out of P160 billion na mga projects ng Road Board e P90 billion ang hindi maeksplika,” he said.

The Road Board oversees funds collected from the motor vehicle user's charge (MUVCs), which earns up to P12 billion a year for road maintenance and safety projects.

Both the Senate and the House have already approved a bill abolishing the Road Board, but Majority Leader Rolando Andaya Jr said that the chamber rescinded the approval.

On Friday, Duterte supported its abolition, calling it the ‘milking cow’ of corrupt government officials since the Road Board is not under the General Appropriations Act (GAA).

The Road Board’s budget coming from MUVCs is under the radar of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), Sotto said.

“Pero ang maganda lang doon ang pinakabantay natin doon ang DBM ang nagpapa-release,” Sotto said.

“So itong panahon na ito, nagkaroon nga ng ganyang report ang COA at nakarating sa Presidente, ayaw i-release ngayon ni Secretary Diokno,” Sotto said.

Diokno said on Thursday that Duterte told him not to release funds until the issue of the board’s existence is resolved. 

The only remaining steps to complete the abolition of the Road Board are the printing and signing of the enrolled copy of the bill which will be sent to the President for approval.

Sotto, however, said the bill needs the signature of Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo before he can send it to the Malacañang.

“Although handa na akong i-submit. Pero ang magandang balita dito, sinabi na ng Pangulo na ‘I am in favor of abolishing,’" Sotto said. —Joviland Rita/KG, GMA News