Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Ma. Cristina Aldeguer-Roque on Wednesday morning discussed ongoing reforms within the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB) during a hearing of the Independent Commission on Infrastructure (ICI).

According to Roque, the new PCAB board members will be prohibited from engaging in contracting businesses.

“The PCAB board, they will all be new. We're just waiting for the appointment of the PCAB board members. And then the executive director for PCAB, SIAP, will all also be changed,” she said in a press briefing after the ICI hearing.

Under the new system, the process for securing contractor licenses will undergo significant modification. Unlike before, when PCAB alone decided on applications, licenses will now have to pass through the Office of the Secretary before approval by the Board. This will include a comprehensive background check to ensure applicants are not linked to corruption.

Roque said the DTI will also flag potential red flags such as involvement in flood control violations or relationships with known violators. Political affiliations, she stressed, will not influence the selection process, as appointments will adhere strictly to ICI guidelines.

Roque assured that the list of new board members will be released “very soon.”

“We can't divulge yet the names of the additional contractors or the contractors that have some violations. We are still really investigating with the ICI since ICI is really the investigating body regarding this issue of the flood control and issue with the contractors,” she said, but also revealed that 15 contractors were discussed already.

“If not, most of them are part of the flood control. So we need to really know what the violations are so we can also recommend or we can also revoke the licenses of these contractors,” she added.

Roque said more contractors are under investigation, but their names cannot be disclosed yet to verify the accuracy of the alleged violations.