Binay camp: DILG blocked P322-M fund for 43 LGUs

MANILA, Philippines - Had Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II allowed the release of over P322 million in special road funds for 43 local government units (LGUs), traffic would not have been such a punishment for commuters and motorists in Metro Manila and other urban centers in the country, a spokesman for Vice President Jejomar Binay said yesterday.

Joey Salgado, head of media affairs of the Office of the Vice President, noted that Roxas did not allow access to the Special Local Road Fund (SLRF) amounting to P322,070,717 to 43 local government units, including 10 LGUs in Metro Manila, based on a 2013 Commission on Audit (COA) report.

The 10 Metro Manila LGUs are Las Piñas (P4,342,544), Mandaluyong (P3,574,974), Manila (P19,520,467), Muntinlupa (P3,490,178), Parañaque (P6,633,969), Pasay (P3,303,884), Quezon City (P46,994,143), San Juan (P3,420,223), Taguig (P5,839,206) and Valenzuela (P2,868,692).

Citing the COA report, Salgado said Roxas did not release the SLRF because the 43 LGUs allegedly failed to pass the Department of the Interior and Local Government’s Seal of Good Housekeeping (SGH).

He said the SGH is an internal criterion for releasing the SLRF and is not supported by any law.

Salgado agreed with the COA observation that the non-release of SLRF could be “perceived as a punishment to the constituents and not just for the few who mishandled/mismanaged the financial resources of the 43 LGUs.”

“The non-release due to a DILG internal criterion is even contrary to the law. Under the existing law or RA 8974, the SLRF should be distributed to provincial and city governments exclusively for maintenance and improvement of local roads,” he said.

LGUs are allotted SLRF representing five percent of the Motor Vehicle Users’ Charge (MVUC) based on Republic Act 8794 “for road maintenance and improvement of road drainage, for the installation of adequate and efficient road safety devices and traffic management.”

SLRF is collected from motorists to fund maintenance projects for national and provincial roads, Salgado said.

Salgado lambasted Roxas and the DILG for using the SGH as an excuse to withhold funds from certain LGUs.

“It should be released as intended by the law. The law is above any criteria DILG has set,” he said.

“If the funds were released then, roads could have been maintained and traffic management measures could have been put in place to ease traffic in Metro Manila and other urban centers,” he said.

“Drainages could have been cleared too and we would have less flooding in Metro Manila,” he added.

The Vice President’s spokesman noted that traffic congestion in Metro Manila costs the country P2.4 billion in lost potential income daily and P962 million in hospitalization expenses.

“We lose 20,000 work hours daily due to traffic and yet we find out the DILG could have helped LGUs do something about road maintenance if only the SLRF meant to augment their budget for this was released,” Salgado said.