House OKs amendments to allocation of fees from motorists

The House of Representatives has approved amendments to Republic Act 8794 or the Motor Vehicle User’s Charge Law that spouse better transparency in the use of collected funds from motorists and equitably allocating them. In a statement, the House of Representatives said the amendments sought to allocate part of the proceeds of the MVUC collections to the government of the province hosting the collected Land Transportation Office and allows members of Congress to have a role in the process of allocating funds collected. Rep. Danilo Suarez, one of the authors of the bill, said the recent controversies surrounding the purpose, use and distribution of the MVUC or more popularly known as the Road User’s Tax make it imperative to revisit RA 8794 and ensure a more transparent disbursement of the monies collected from vehicle owners. "The MVUC provides a readily available funding mechanism on the emergency repairs and maintenance of the country’s major highways and the National Road Board (NRB) plays a very crucial role as an accountable agency in the collection and dispositions of the MVUC," Suarez said. Through the proposed measure, MVUC is expected to improve motoring in the country and the NRB will be more responsible in the disbursement of the fund. Rep. Aurora Enerio-Cerilles, another author of the bill, said 10 years after RA 8794 was enacted, the present disposition of the law is being questioned by all sectors of society because of the general impression that the present system is full of corruption. Enerio-Cerilles said there is inequity in the distribution of funds as dispensed by the Road Board. "The bill seeks to amend some portion of RA 8794 to give justice to the original intention of the framers of this law which is to provide funds for the maintenance of provincial roads. This will direct all monies collected to the general fund of the national government and it will be the Congress of the Philippines who will later judiciously allocate the money, making it transparent and accountable," Enerio-Cerilles said. The measure also provides that in allocating funds of the MVUC, the length of the roads and their condition shall be considered together with the total road length at the concerned district. Further, it mandates that the province hosting a Land Transportation Office (LTO) shall be entitled to 50 percent of the monies collected by the concerned LTO. The bill also requires that all the monies collected in the course of implementing RA 8794 shall be remitted to the National Treasury and become part of the annual budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways and Department of Transportation and Communications. — Cheryl Arcibal/RSJ, GMA News