Lacson floats alleged PCAB ‘accreditation for sale' scheme

Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson on Wednesday alleged that the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB) has been seeking payments for the accreditation of private contractors of government projects for as low as P2 million.

Lacson, who previously delivered a comprehensive privilege speech on the alleged corrupt practices in flood control projects in some areas, said this in the plenary session upon the interpellation of Senate Minority Leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto III. 

PCAB is an attached agency of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and is one of the implementing boards in the Construction Industry Authority of the Philippines (CIAP). 

“It seems na medyo nahaluan na rin ‘ata ng konting, o hindi lang konti, na ng katiwalian pagdating sa mga flood control projects. Because information keep coming in sa aming opisina na itong PCAB, nagre-resort na sa accreditation for sale,” Lacson said. 

(It seems that PCAB is already involved in corruption when it comes to flood control projects. Because information keeps coming into our office that this board is resorting to accreditation for sale.) 

“I’ve talked to some private contractors na they had this experience of being offered accreditation by PCAB na sila na ang bahala sa bank certificate and other requirements for a fee of I think P2 million for a start. So ganito na kasama talaga ang kalakaran sa ating bureaucracy,” he added. 

(I've talked to some private contractors and they said that they had this experience of being offered accreditation by PCAB. They said that the board would take care of the bank certificate and other requirements for a fee of I think P2 million for a start. So this is how bad the system is in our bureaucracy.) 

In his interpellation, Sotto questioned how construction companies Alpha & Omega Gen. Contractor & Development Corp. and St. Timothy Construction Corporation— two of the contractors named by President Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr., that were said to have bagged 20% of the total P545 billion budget of flood control projects— were accredited. 

The Senate minority leader said that the two firms only have one owner who is supposedly also the owner of construction company St. Gerard, which is supposedly “blacklisted” by the government.

The two senators, who are both members of the Senate minority bloc, agreed that they will press the PCAB to answer certain questions about the matter in the next Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing scheduled on September 1. — RF, GMA Integrated News