Incoming PCAB board members cannot own construction firms — DTI's Roque

The incoming board members of the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB), an agency mandated to accredit and issue licenses to contractors, can longer be owners of construction firms to avoid conflict of interest.

This was among the “major changes” being done in PCAB, according to Trade Secretary Cristina Roque.

Roque said the DTI “already made some changes na hindi na pwede ang board member to own a construction company (a board member cannot own a construction company).”

“Now they should have a construction background, meaning they could be an engineer… that are part of the construction firm but do don’t own a construction firm,” she said at a press briefing in Taguig City on Wednesday following her meeting with the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI).

Roque said the DTI is now awaiting for the appointment of the PCAB board members by the President.

“We’ve submitted a lot of names… they [should] have to have 10 years of experience,” she said.

The two seats in the PCA are currently empty following the resignation of board member Erni Baggao due to personal and health reasons, while Arthur Escalante’s term had already lapsed in May.

Likewise, PCAB executive director Herbert Matienzo had resigned for “personal reasons.”

PCAB

The PCAB is an agency attached to the Department of Trade and Industry and one of the implementing boards in the Construction Industry Authority of the Philippines (CIAP), the agency that regulates the construction industry.

Republic Act No. 4566 as amended by Presidential Decree No. 1746 provides that no contractor, including sub-contractor and specialty contractor, shall engage in the business of contracting without first having secured a PCAB license to conduct business.

Apart from barring construction firm owners to sit in the PCAB, Roque added that ”[contractor] license will pass through the Office of the Secretary for checking and then from there we give it to the PCAB Board so there’s an additional [layer].”

The changes introduced in the PCAB came amid the ongoing probe into the alleged corruption in flood control projects.

Roque said adding another layer in PCAB licensing was meant to “make sure that contractors were double-checked and that they are really following the rules set by the PCAB and of course by the DTI.” — RSJ, GMA Integrated News