Over P5 billion in road user’s tax collected by the embattled Road Board have been sought to fund road maintenance and safety projects proposed by government engineers and at least 29 lawmakers, including Sen. Franklin M. Drilon, an outspoken critic of the agency.
This developed as House Majority Leader Rolando Andaya Jr. (PDP-Laban, Camarines Sur) challenged Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno to reconsider his decision not to attend the ongoing congressional hearings investigating reported irregularities involving the huge allocations for flood control program for a Sorsogon town that is not listed among the flood danger zones.
Former House Majority Leader Rodolfo Farinas (NP, Ilocos Norte) and other supporters of the Road Board abolition bill were among the congressmen who submitted the most projects reaching as much as P100 million each.
Farinas, one of the authors of House Bill 7436 that sought to eliminate the board, submitted five projects requiring a total funding of some P278 million, as reflected in a list sourced from the office of Road Board Executive Director Luisito Clapano.
Incumbent House Majority Leader and Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya released the 14-page listing to House reporters even as he decried the alleged “fake news” on the issue allegedly being peddled by Diokno.
In one of his series of news conferences and media interviews, Diokno said Andaya and House Minority Leader Danilo Suarez (Lakas-CMD, Quezon) have approached him for the release of the Road Board funds.
Diokno reportedly did not mention Drilon, Farinas,or any other lawmaker as among those whose projects will require huge funding releases. However, he admitted that his office has not yet authorized the release of funds for Road Board projects.
Andaya said Diokno has been “peddling fake news” to the media in an apparent bid to deflect public attention on the budgeting irregularities that the Department of Budget and Management chief has been accused of masterminding.
He stressed that there are no Road Board funding requests coming from him or House Speaker Gloria M. Arroyo, who has been the object of criticisms from Drilon and even former House Speaker Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez over the Road Board funding controversies.
As reflected in the document, the Road Board has sought the issuance of the Special Allotment Release Order amounting to P16 million from the DBM for a project that Drilon has proposed.
Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara’s name is also in the list but the project proposed is shared with her aunt, Aurora Rep. Bellaflor Angara-Castillo. Together, they proposed three projects that would cost an aggregate P86 million.
Farinas said he believes in the authenticity and accuracy of the list if it came from the House of Representatives. “Members of Congress make such recommendations as our district engineers say that the Road Board requires such,” he stressed. (Ben R. Rosario)