The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is seeking to amend the Contractors’ License Law to address potential conflicts of interest, following the resignation of top officials from the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB).

Trade Secretary Cristina Roque said the current law does not explicitly prohibit a PCAB board member from being an active contractor, which she admitted creates a conflict of interest.

Earlier, the PCAB officials, who were alleged to be concurrently operating their own construction firms, stepped down amid a controversy involving anomalous flood control projects.

“So the laws need to be changed also,” she told reporters last week. “But of course, just like all laws, we have to keep changing them as time goes by.”

Under Republic Act (RA) No. 4566, each board member is required to have at least 10 years of experience in the contracting business.

Other qualifications include being a citizen and resident of the Philippines for at least eight years prior to appointment to the board, at least 35 years old, and of good moral character.

Senator Panfilo Lacson, who heads the Senate panel investigating the flood control issue, earlier accused two PCAB members of conflict of interest since they are also contractors for the government.

In an Aug. 30 statement, Lacson flagged PCAB members Arthur Escalante and Erni Baggao for violating RA No. 6713, the law that sets the code of conduct and ethical standards for public officials and employees.

Based on Section 7 of the law, public officials shall not own, control, or manage any private enterprise, accept employment in such enterprises, or engage in the private practice of their profession.

According to Lacson, both Escalante and Baggao were still running their respective construction companies while performing their duties under PCAB, bagging lucrative government contracts in the process.

The two officials resigned from PCAB earlier this month, alongside Herbert Matienzo, executive director of both PCAB and the Construction Industry Association of the Philippines (CIAP).

Despite exiting from the board, Roque said all three will still be subject to the DTI’s investigation, led by its fact-finding body.

Roque said the agency will collaborate with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the newly created Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) in its ongoing probe.

“We’ve already spoken about what they need from us. We also have a fact-finding body to ensure that we check on the contractors that were given to us that we should check,” she said.

Roque earlier placed CIAP and PCAB under her direct supervision in an effort to restore transparency and accountability.

She has named Doris Gacho and Sergie Retome as acting executive directors of CIAP and the PCAB, respectively.

Gacho and Retome will temporarily manage CIAP and PCAB until permanent replacements are appointed in accordance with Civil Service Commission (CSC) rules and procedures.

Roque is in the process of recommending new members for the PCAB Board. President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. will then select the final board members.

Meanwhile, in the Senate, neophyte Senator Erwin Tulfo has filed Senate Bill No. 1373, which aims to amend the Contractor’s License Law.

Citing the need to avoid conflict of interest, Tulfo said the amended law must disqualify owners, stockholders, or officers of construction companies with government transactions from being PCAB members.

The bill proposes that if a conflict of interest arises during a board member’s tenure, the member must divest their interest within 30 days.