President Rodrigo Duterte has abolished the Road Board and transferred the remittance of the motor vehicle user’s charge (MVUC) from the agency to the National Treasury.
Republic Act (RA) No. 11239, which the President signed on March 8 but was released to the public on March 19, abolishes the Road Board created under RA 8794 (An Act Imposing a Motor Vehicle User’s Charge on Owners of all Types of Motor Vehicle and for Other Purposes).
Duterte had earlier called for the abolition of the Road Board, saying it is “nothing but a depository of money and for corruption.”
RA 11239 also amends certain provisions of RA 8794. Under the new law, the MVUC, previously collected by the Road Board, will now be “remitted to the National Treasury under a special account in the General Fund to be earmarked solely for the construction, upgrading, repair, and rehabilitation of roads, bridges, and road drainage to be included in the annual General Appropriations Act.”
The MVUC is imposed on every motor vehicle in lieu of the registration fee and the Private Motor Vehicle Tax.
The secretaries of the Department of Budget and Management, Department of Transportation, and Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) are tasked to jointly, within 30 days from RA 11239’s effectivity, promulgate the implementing rules and regulations of the new law.
The law also creates a Congressional Oversight Committee, composed of five members each from the House of Representatives and the Senate, to monitor RA 11239’s implementation.
DPWH, under the new law, shall be subrogated to all the rights and assume all the obligations and liabilities of the Road Board. All records, property, assets, equipment, and funds of the Road Board, including unexpended appropriations and allocations, shall be transferred to DPWH. The public works department shall also, as needed, absorb the employees of the Road Board secretariat.
