Press Release
September 27, 2009

Decade's biggest scandal caused biggest Metro floods - Miriam

Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago blamed the possible misuse of the motor vehicle user's charge (MVUC) for one of the worst floods in the Metro Manila's history due to the rains brought by the Storm Ondoy.

Reports said that the massive rainfall caused the worst floods in nearly 40 years in Metro Manila and also put several provinces of Luzon under a state of calamity last Saturday, a day after the senator conducted an inquiry controversial road users' tax.

"The massive floods we are experiencing right now could have been mitigated if the multi-billion MVUC funds were used properly, including improvement of our drainage systems and road maintenance," Santiago said.

During the joint hearing of the Senate committees on economic affairs and public works last Friday, Santiago said the road tax, collected since 2001 from every motor vehicle, is "the biggest scandal of this decade." She said that the road fund was not allocated according to legal procedures, but was based instead on the request of politicians, other government officials, and district engineers on the Road Board's discretion.

"It looks like the biggest scandal of the decade produced the biggest floods in Metro Manila. Billions of pesos from the road tax fund were allegedly used to install traffic lights, road safety devices, and vehicle pollution equipment--which are all prone to corruption through overpricing and ghost purchases--instead for road maintenance and drainage systems," Santiago said.

Santiago, citing reports from the Commission on Audit, said that there are unimplemented projects from the MVUC funds that total P 57 million, and P 5.7 M worth of MVUC projects left unfinished for more than two years. The senator also noted the World Bank Report of February 2009 which in effect states that the percentage of paved national roads in good to fair condition increased only by 1.1 percent per year since the road tax was collected.

The senator said the road tax is the government's third largest source of tax revenue, collecting a total of some P56.5 billion in the period of 2001 to July 2009.

Meanwhile, Santiago said that it is fortunate that the Senate has already concurred the Asean Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response (AADMER) earlier this month. The treaty aims to provide effective mechanisms in responding to disaster emergencies in the Asean region through concerted national efforts and intensified regional and international cooperation.

"Given the vulnerability of the country to almost all types of natural hazards as we see now, the Philippines can benefit the most in the ratification of AADMER," Santiago, chair of the Senate foreign relations committee, said.

The ratification of the treaty is also important, according to Santiago, considering that the Philippines will assume the chairmanship of the ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management (ACDM) in January 2010.

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