It is only but practical and even imperative that a portion of this fund should be used to finance railway operations as the need for mass transit systems in the country is continuously exploding.

A bill seeking to realign funds from the motor vehicle user’s charge (MVUC) to provide for the maintenance and upgrade of railways including its operational needs was filed in the Senate.

Sen. Francis Tolentino has filed Senate Bill 1054 or An Act Providing for a Railways Fund from Motor Vehicle User’s Charge Collections, which seeks to amend Republic Act (RA) 8794 as amended by RA 11239.

Under the bill, at least 50 percent of the existing fund and the annual collections will be allocated for the acquisition of train cars, light rail coaches and the repair, rehabilitation and creation of railroad tracks and railways nationwide which includes light rails, trams and monorails.

“It is only but practical and even imperative that a portion of this fund should be used to finance railway operations as the need for mass transit systems in the country is continuously exploding and because of the fact that a better railway system would ease up the volume of traffic on our roads and thus improve the nation’s transportation network and mobility as a whole,” Tolentino said.

In his explanatory note, Tolentino said that by the year-end of 2018, MVUC collections have aggregated to P46.25 billion while the Land Transportation Office collects 12 billion per year.

He said that the abolition of the Road Board, which controls the MVUC funds, removed the allocations in which the funds were supposed to be used and was placed in a special account in the government’s general fund which will only be used if there were projects that were specified in the national budget.

These funds will be earmarked solely for the construction, upgrading, repair and rehabilitation of roads, bridges, and road drainage.

The former Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairman also pointed out that the past administrations “seem to have failed” in giving attention to the rehabilitation of the existing railways resulting in lack of necessary equipment and technical knowledge that will improve our train system.

“The perceived benefits of a truly functional mass transportation system cannot be fully realized because of an apparent lack of ample support and adequate funding,” he said.

Last March, President Rodrigo Duterte has signed a law seeking to abolish the Road Board as it was earlier described by the Chief Executive as the “milking cow” of corrupt officials.

The law also provided that the MVUC collection will be stored in the National Treasury which can only be released if the road projects are included in the General Appropriations Act.