Construction firm owners will no longer be allowed to be members of the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB) as part of a move by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to prevent conflict of interest, according to Trade Secretary Cristina Roque.
The new policy aims to clean up the process of licensing contractors after several flood control projects were implicated in corruption. According to Roque, prospective board members must have a background in construction, but cannot be company owners.
Under the new policy, applications will first go through the secretary's office before being approved by the PCAB. This is to ensure that the correct process is followed and to avoid favoritism.
The DTI is also proposing to bar relatives of blacklisted contractors from obtaining licenses. At the same time, stricter guidelines will be implemented before approving new applications, thus affecting some legitimate businesses.
According to Roque, the process of revoking the licenses of 15 large contractors involved in flood control projects worth billions of pesos is also in the final stages.
