Andaya wants to move vehicle users' charge collection to DPWH fund

House Majority Floor Leader Rolando Andaya, Jr. on Sunday suggested transferring the controversial motor vehicle user's charge (MVUC) collection to the Department of Public Works and Highways’ fund.

In a statement, Andaya said that the MVUC collection should be changed from being a hidden off-budget item "that will be spent by one person in a nontransparent way."

He suggested the money be included in DPWH’s fund so that it can be easily monitored.

“The proceeds need to be included as a line-item fund in the annual budget of the DPWH in the General Appropriations Act,” Andaya said.

“This way, the real and full funding level of the DPWH is reflected clearly, unlike today when MVUC spending is segregated and treated as a non-national budget expenditure,” he added.

For Andaya, the bill pushed by the Senate and the previous House leadership to abolish the Road Board cannot guarantee a 100 percent abolition.

“He (President Rodrigo Duterte) wants total road board abolition, not fake abolition. The utilization of MVUC in the bill is complete opposite of what the President wants,” he said.

According to him, the House will send members from their group to the bicameral committee on the first session of the year to address Duterte’s demands.

The Road Board oversees funds of up to P12 billion yearly collected from MVUCs, which is intended for road maintenance and safety projects.

Last month, Duterte called the Road Board a "milking cow" of corrupt government officials.

Earlier, Senate President Vicente Sotto III said that P90 billion worth of projects by the Road Board in 2017 were unexplained, based on the reports of the Commission on Audit.

The abolition will be official upon the printing and signing of the enrolled copy of the bill, which will be sent to the President for approval.

However, Sotto said the bill needs the signature of Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo before he can send it to the Malacañang. —Joviland Rita/LBG/KG, GMA News