The House of Representatives is expected to soon transmit to the Senate the bill abolishing the graft-ridden Road Board, an official said Friday.
House Majority Leader Rolando Andaya Jr., chairman of the House committee on rules, said the House will ensure that the bill will be approved before Congress adjourns on Feb. 8 as the election campaign period begins on Feb. 12.
“We are going to send the bill next week to the Senate to have it approved by the senators,” Andaya said.
The House approved on second reading a bill on the Road Board’s abolition last Wednesday.
Andaya led the crafting of the new measure with “perfecting amendments” to the original House Bill 7436 creating the Road Board.
Earlier, Andaya said both chambers of Congress had agreed to approve a legitimate bill that called for the Road Board’s abolition to stave off a supposed attempt to hoodwink President Rodrigo Duterte into signing an earlier “defective” measure.
Andaya, Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri and Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto agreed on Tuesday night to dump the original draft of the fake Road Board abolition measure.
Andaya said the proceeds from the motor vehicle users’ charge collections would be itemized for road maintenance under the national budget.
He said the proceeds would go to the general fund to ensure their use for the reconstruction of calamity-hit areas upon the approval of President Rodrigo Duterte.
The Road Board controls the funds collected from the MVUC solely for road maintenance and drainage improvement, the installation of traffic lights and road safety devices and the monitoring of air pollution.
