Lapid files bill limiting participation of foreign contractors in PH projects

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Lito Lapid has filed a bill seeking to give the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB) with “sufficient” regulatory powers to limit the participation of foreign contractors in the country to “safeguard” local firms.

Lapid’s Senate Bill No. 1889 seeks to amend the law that created the licensing board to equip it with regulatory tools.

Under the bill, only a special license can be issued to a foreign contractor.

A special license is issued to authorize the licensee to “engage only in the construction of a single, specific project/undertaking,” according to the Construction Authority of the Philippines.

Lapid pointed out that the construction industry serves as one of the “prime movers” of the Philippine economy.

Citing the 2018 Construction Industry Performance Highlights released by the Construction Industry Authority of the Philippines, Lapid said the construction industry’s share of the total employment in the Philippines stood at 9.4 percent or nearly four million workers.

But the senator said the COVID-19 pandemic abruptly derails the construction sector’s “track to further development.”

“This expected slump in output places in jeopardy our local contractors and the millions of Filipino families who depend on them,” Lapid said in the bill’s explanatory note.

“It, therefore, behooves upon the government to implement sound policies and interventions to protect the local construction industry, while at the same time, provide reasonable in-roads for our local contractors and nationals to learn from and adapt international best practices, expertise and technology,” he added.

According to the measure, foreign contractors should first meet the following prerequisites before a special license can be issued. These are:

• Designate a Filipino resident agent
• Ensure technology transfer, skills trainings and capacity building of local contractors
• Only undertake a foreign- financed/Internationally-funded project
• Only employ Filipino nationals, except for highly-technical positions after a determination by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) of the non-availability of a Filipino national who is competent, able and willing to perform said functions or services
• Only use locally-sourced construction materials and components, except for specific materials and components determined by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to be not available or manufactured locally

Through these conditions, Lapid said the welfare of local contractors, Filipino workers and manufacturers would be “adequately safeguarded.”

Earlier, Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri said he intends to file a bill that would limit foreign contractors’ entry by proposing a cap on the size of the project foreign firms can undertake. [ac]