“It is time to reform or abolish the PCAB law, because instead of protecting the public from corruption, it has become a gateway for it.”
Thus stressed Senate Blue Ribbon Committee Vice Chairperson Senator Erwin Tulfo, as he expressed disbelief over the requirement that one must be a contractor to become a member of the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB), the chief licensing agency for contractors in the country.
Tulfo noted that “RA 4566, or the ‘Contractors’ License Law,’ which created the PCAB, requires that only contractors can sit on its board.”
Questioning the rationale behind this, he said: “How can they monitor, oversee, and regulate construction projects in the country, whether these are done properly, are not substandard, or are not ghost projects—if they themselves are also contractors? Clearly, there is a conflict of interest here!”
Relatedly, Tulfo said he is set to file on Monday (Sept. 8) a Senate resolution seeking to review RA 4566, in an effort to have the existing law examined, whether it should be revised, particularly the requirement that only contractors can be part of the PCAB board, or whether the entire licensing agency should be abolished altogether.
He stressed: “I cannot imagine how such a law was passed when some of its provisions are clearly self-serving, especially the qualifications for becoming part of the Board of Directors.
The Senator notes that of late, several PCAB board members are allegedly involved in large government projects, such as Engr. Erni Baggao who secured P2.2 billion worth of flood control projects through his EGB Construction Corporation, one of the Top 15 contractors cited by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and that another member of the BOD, Engr. Arthur Escalante, owner of AN Escalante Construction Inc., likewise obtained government projects.
“Former PCAB Chairman Engr. Pericles Dakay, who was already dismissed from his post, is also a contractor. Although Dakay claimed he did not receive government projects, his leadership remains questionable for allowing contractors previously blacklisted due to substandard and ghost projects to slip through the cracks,” he added.
