No stopping probe of Road Board graft

Its death would not save the Road Board from an investigation to uncover the irregularities that led to calls for its abolition, according to several senators on Saturday.

Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III, head of the ruling Partido Demokratikong Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan, said evidence of corruption by Road Board officials should lead to cases being filed.

Pimentel said the next step after accusing the board of wrongdoing should be to gather evidence.

He said a law, which he authored and which lengthened the period for filing of graft cases, could help make more people accountable for misusing public funds.

Accounting needed

“We should never surrender,” Pimentel said. “If there is evidence, file the cases,” he added.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III also said in a radio interview even if the Road Board was abolished, there was a need to account how billions of pesos of its funds were used.

But Sotto said he preferred the Commission on Audit to do the digging. Cases should be filed if necessary, he added.

Pimentel said anomalies at the Road Board were just symptoms of a bigger problem—circumvention of bidding rules.