Sen. Erwin Tulfo is filing a bill to criminalize the so-called ‘license for rent’ scheme to bid for government infrastructure projects.
According to him, this scheme surfaced as a central modus operandi in the flood control scam probe hearings in the Senate.
‘These privileges have often been misused and abused. A disturbing practice has emerged where grantees lend, lease, sell, or otherwise allow third parties to unlawfully use their licenses, while others fraudulently obtain or misrepresent such privileges to cloak illegitimate transactions under the guise of legality,’ he said in a statement.
According to Tulfo, the ultimate goal of the measure is to restore the integrity of government-issued licenses and permits, strengthen accountability, prevent abuses that undermine governance, and ensure that the license privileges serve only their lawful and intended purposes.
HEAD: Erwin Tulfo raises alarm over DPWH contractors’ license-renting scheme
During the previous hearings on the anomalous flood control projects, it was bared that there was a strong possibility that contractors’ licenses were being rented by dummy companies with the involvement of some officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
Tulfo, the acting chair of the blue ribbon committee, said a source, whom he did not identify, told him about the scheme where licenses were rented out without the licensed firms doing the construction work.
Under his proposed ‘License Integrity Act,’ lending, borrowing, and fraudulent use of licenses will be given a penalty of imprisonment of not less than three years to not more than 12 years, and/or a fine of not less than P300,000 but not more than P3,000,000.
The measure will cover not only the contractors’ license in the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) but also the customs brokers in the Bureau of Customs (BOC), and environmental licenses in the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) will be covered.
Public officials who will issue licenses to unqualified or conflicted applicants will also be penalized administratively and criminally, according to the bill.
‘This affirms the nature of licenses and permits as personal, non-transferable privileges subject to the continuing oversight of the state,’ the senator said. /atm