DOF backs abolition of Road Board

The Department of Finance (DOF) is supporting moves to abolish the controversial and allegedly corruption-laden Road Board, while pushing for collections from the motor vehicle user’s charge (MVUC) to be remitted straight to the national coffers’ general fund.

In a statement Monday, the DOF said reforms in MVUC collection were included in the proposed tax reform package 1B, which also called for a unified yet higher rate.

“We want the current and future funds now earmarked for the Road Board to be part of the general fund which will then be appropriated by the legislature as part of the normal budgeting process and not allocated by an un-elected Board, which lessens the transparency on the use of the funds,” Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said.

Finance Undersecretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua also denied a lawmaker’s assumption that the department was not supporting the board’s abolition.

Chua said, however: “While the transfer of the Road funds to the general fund will improve the transparency and accountability of its use, it does not add any revenue at all … Only adjustment to the MVUC rates will increase revenues earmarked for road repairs, air pollution control and road safety improvements,” Chua added.

The DOF had proposed to slap a single base rate of 2.50 per kilogram of gross vehicle weight (GVW) on all types of motor vehicles.