In December 2018, a high-profile dispute erupted between the House of Representatives, led largely by then Majority Leader Rolando Andaya, and then Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno during debates over the proposed 2019 national budget, amid accusations of last-minute insertions.

Former Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez attributed the row to a battle for control of the Motor Vehicle Users Charge (MVUC) collected through the Road Board, alleging that House members sought influence over the funds for potential kickbacks.

Now, Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab says the racket may have been resurrected. During deliberations on the Department of Public Works and Highways’ proposed 2027 budget on Friday, Ungab questioned the disappearance of the P14.834-billion Special Road Fund as a stand-alone budget line and its conversion into a lump-sum allocation.

Ungab warned that the shift could again expose the MVUC to misuse ahead of the 2028 elections.

Money turns invisible

Ungab said the Special Road Fund, carried as its own Program, Activity and Project (PAP) under the DPWH Convergence and Special Support Program in the 2026 General Appropriations Act, no longer appears as a separate line in the 2027 National Expenditure Program (NEP).

Instead, the roughly P15-billion MVUC allocation was folded into the Asset Preservation Program under Special Provision 10 of the NEP, retitled “Disposition of the Motor Vehicle Users Charge Collections” from its previous heading, “Special Road Fund.”

“On the face of the Fiscal Year 2027 NEP Projects, Activities, and Projects schedule that this committee is being asked to approve, a legislator cannot see the Special Road Fund as a separate line,” Ungab said.

“It is invisible unless one reads Special Provision 10 and knows how to look for it inside the Asset Preservation Program,” the Davao City legislator said during the House appropriations committee hearing.

Ungab asked whether the DPWH requested the change or whether the Department of Budget and Management imposed it.

A DPWH undersecretary for planning, speaking on behalf of Secretary Vince Dizon, said the shift followed amendments to the MVUC law, Republic Act 8794, through Republic Act 11239, which limited the fund to the construction, upgrading, repair, and rehabilitation of roads, bridges and road drainage.

The agency, the undersecretary said, now identifies MVUC-funded projects “by attribution” within Asset Preservation and can furnish the committee a list of projects covered by the P15-billion allocation.

Ungab argued the reclassification blurs a legal distinction, as the Special Road Fund, he said, is a special fund under Article VI, Section 29(3) of the Constitution involving money collected from a tax levied for a specific purpose and payable only for that purpose.

Asset Preservation, by contrast, is an ordinary program funded through general appropriations, with its scope set annually by the DBM and Congress.

Different function

Ungab noted that the 2027 Asset Preservation Program covers preventive maintenance and rehabilitation of roads and drainage, while bridge projects fall under a separate program.

A pending Supreme Court case, already through five rounds of oral arguments, challenges the constitutionality of Special Accounts in the General Fund, Use of Income in the General Fund, and similar earmarked-fund mechanisms, including the Special Road Fund.

Court precedent, he said, holds that a general appropriations law cannot amend a special law such as the MVUC statute.

Dizon told the committee the P15-billion MVUC allocation, although carried as a lump sum under Asset Preservation, corresponds to itemized projects detailed in the submitted NEP, which he commits to submit to lawmakers.

Ungab, closing his interpellation, recalled that a similar restructuring occurred in the 2023 budget, when the MVUC was likewise folded into the Asset Preservation Program. He said a veto message that year noted the arrangement was permitted only for that budget cycle and was not to recur in subsequent years.

Longstanding allegations of misuse and politicized allocation, primarily through the Road Board that managed its special funds, had plagued the use of the tax proceeds.

MVUC collections were deposited into four special accounts (Special Road Support Fund of about 80 percent, Special Local Road Fund of 5 percent, Special Road Safety Fund of 7.5 percent, and Special Vehicle Pollution Control Fund of 7.5 percent).

A seven-member Road Board, chaired by the DPWH secretary, with other Cabinet secretaries and private sector members, was supposed to ensure prudent use exclusively for road maintenance/drainage, traffic safety devices/lights, and air pollution control.

Political considerations often influenced projects rather than objective needs.

Commission on Audit (CoA) findings and political pressure culminated in Republic Act 11239, signed 8 March 2019 by then President Rodrigo Duterte which abolished the Road Board, transferred its functions, assets, and liabilities (and personnel as needed) to the DPWH, and redirected all MVUC collections to a special account in the National Treasury’s General Fund.

Funds are now earmarked for construction, upgrading, repair, and rehabilitation of roads, bridges, and drainage, and are appropriated annually through the General Appropriations Act.

The CoA report repeatedly flagged MVUC deficiencies, including funds used for unauthorized expenses; unliquidated advances; suspended/disallowed amounts; and poor project selection, supervision and completion rates.