Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Batasan Hills, Quezon City 
TWENTIETH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO. 1930
Introduced by  
HON. ATTY. GERVILLE “JINKY BITRICS” R. LUISTRO 
AN ACT  
TO DEVELOP A NATIONAL QUALITY POLICY DEFINING THE PHILIPPINE 
NATIONAL QUALITY INFRASTRUCTURE (NQI) THEREOF, CREATING FOR THIS 
PURPOSE, THE PHILIPPINE NATIONAL QUALITY INFRASTRUCTURE 
COORDINATING COUNCIL  
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
In a rapidly evolving global economy, the ability of a country to compete hinges not only 
on the volume of infrastructure projects it undertakes, but more importantly, on the quality, 
reliability, and sustainability of those investments. In the Philippines, while infrastructure 
development has been a centerpiece of national policy, persistent issues—ranging from poor 
construction standards and delayed completion to safety hazards—continue to plague roadways, 
bridges, and other public structures. These issues reveal the urgent need to institutionalize a 
framework that ensures consistency in the quality and safety of all infrastructure undertakings 
across the country. 
A glaring example occurred in February 2025, when the newly retrofitted P1.2‑billion 
Cabagan–Santa Maria Bridge in Isabela partially collapsed under a heavy truck load, injuring 
several motorists shortly after its inauguration.1 Investigations revealed possible design flaws, 
substandard materials, and procurement irregularities, prompting calls for a Senate inquiry to 
probe corruption and accountability in DPWH projects. 2 Filipinos continue to experience 
pothole‑ridden highways and deteriorating roadways, especially after monsoon rains—a long-
standing infrastructure challenge highlighted in a 2025 opinion piece lamenting persistent 
“potholes, weak bridges and broken beams” across the country. 3 These lapses not only disrupt 
mobility and economic activity but also compromise public safety and increase maintenance costs. 
1 https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/nation/937902/isabela-bridge-collapse-probe-should-look-at-
possible-corruption-act/story 
2 https://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/tell-it-to-sunstar-the-problem-with-corruption-in-public-works 
3 https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2018/07/09/1831812/potholes-weak-bridges-and-broken-beams 
July 15, 2025
4:45 pm


According to the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, the Philippines now ranks last 
among ASEAN nations in transport infrastructure adequacy, reflecting chronic underinvestment.4 
Under this bill, road and bridge projects must undergo rigorous third-party inspection 
before, during, and after construction phases. Failure to meet quality standards will result in 
contractual penalties, cancellation, and disqualification from future bidding. To support 
implementation, the NQI council will coordinate across national agencies—DPWH, DTI, DOST, 
and DTI—while engaging private-sector laboratories and civil society watchdogs to maintain 
transparency and integrity. 
By raising the bar for infrastructure quality and reinforcing enforcement mechanisms, we 
can deliver safer, more resilient, and efficient public works. This enhances not only economic 
competitiveness but also the safety and trust of Filipino communities nationwide. 
In view of the foregoing, the passage of this bill is earnestly sought. 
HON. ATTY. GERVILLE “JINKY BITRICS” R. LUISTRO 
4 https://www.pids.gov.ph/details/news/press-releases/ph-lags-behind-asean-neighbors-in-transport-infrastructure 


Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City, Metro Manila 
TWENTIETH Congress 
First Regular Session 
House Bill No. 1930 
Introduced by  
HON. ATTY. GERVILLE “JINKY BITRICS” R. LUISTRO 
AN ACT  
TO DEVELOP A NATIONAL QUALITY POLICY DEFINING THE PHILIPPINE 
NATIONAL QUALITY INFRASTRUCTURE (NQI) THEREOF, CREATING FOR THIS 
PURPOSE, THE PHILIPPINE NATIONAL QUALITY INFRASTRUCTURE 
COORDINATING COUNCIL 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress 
assembled: 
SECTION 1. Title. – This Act shall be known as the “National Quality Infrastructure 
Development Act.”’ 
SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy. – It is declared the policy of the State to adopt a culture 
of quality among its citizens to encourage competitiveness among firms, to facilitate trade, and to 
promote consumer welfare in accordance with good regulatory practices. 
The State shall adopt and strengthen its quality infrastructure network that would support 
national policies and strategies on economic development, industrialization, trade and investments, 
ease of doing business, consumer protection, and environmental protection, while adhering to 
international best practices and international standards. 


 
 
The State recognizes the critical role of the private sector in the national quality infrastructure, 
and shall promote a transparent, participatory, coherent, and efficient mechanism to enable 
businesses to effectively comply with market requirements and consumer needs. 
 
 
Pursuant thereto, the State shall also develop a National Quality Policy (NQP) that will further 
strengthen the Philippine National Quality Infrastructure (NQI) to provide the necessary institutional 
apparatus so that the country’s private sector can produce products and services of a prescribed 
national or international standard; and the verification of conformance to these standards can be 
achieved by internationally accepted means. 
 
 
It is hereby declared the policy of the State to harmonize the fragrmented quality programs 
and policies, as well as institutionalize effective cooperation and coordnation among the NQI 
institutions in the country, as well as with their regional and international counterparts. The NQI 
shall serve both the regulatory authorities and the market place in order to comply with the State’s 
constitutional mandate to protect consumer rights and encourage industries and other organizations 
to adopt quality improvements and best practices into their day-to-day activities. 
 
 
SECTION 3. Coverage. – This Act shall apply to activities, processes, programs, and to 
public and private institutions relevant to standards, accreditation, metrology, conformity 
assessment, and other matters incidental thereto. 
 
SECTION 4. Definitions of Terms. – For purpose of this Act, the following terms are 
defined as follows: 
a) Accreditation refers to a third-party attestation conveying a formal demonstration 
of the competence of a conformity assessment body to carry out specific conformity 
assessment tasks. It provides a basis for uniform technical policy and conditions for 
mutual recognition at the international level; 
b) Calibration refers to the operation that is used to establish that the measuring 
instruments used remain accurate within specified parameters; 


 
c) Certification refers to a third-party attestation of conformance to standards, 
technical regulations, other specified requirements or guidelines related to products, 
processes, systems or persons. This can be accomplished by conducting inspection, 
verification, audit and/or testing; 
d) Conformity Assessment refers to the demonstration that specified requirements 
relating to a product, process, system, person or body are fulfilled; 
e) Conformity Assessment Body refers to a body that performs conformity assessment 
activities and that can be the object of accreditation; 
f) Culture of Quality refers to the set of group values that guide how improvements 
are made to everyday working practices and consequent outputs; 
g) Inspection refers to the examination of a product, process, service, or installation, 
or their design and determination of its conformity with specific requirements or, 
on the basis of professional judgment, with general requirements;  
h) Metrology refers to the science of measurement and its application, which includes 
all theoretical and practical aspects of measurement; 
i) National Quality Infrastructure (NQI) refers to policy, legal, regulatory, and 
administrative frameworks, and the institutional arrangements, public and private, 
to implement standardization, accreditation, and totality of the testing, certification, 
and measurement necessary to provide acceptable evidence that products and 
services meet the defined government and market standards; 
j) National Quality Policy (NQP) refers to the basic government instrument for 
establishing and overseeing the quality infrastructure system; 
k) Philippine National Standard (PNS) refers to a document established by consensus 
and promulgated by the Bureau of Philippine Standards, which provides, for 
common and repeated use, rules, guidelines, or characteristics for activities or their 
results which aim at the achievement of the optimum degree of order in a given 
context; 
l) Quality refers to the degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfill 


 
requirements; 
m) Standards refers to the document approved by a recognized body that provides for 
common and repeated use, rules, guidelines, or characteristics for products or 
related processes and production methods, with which compliance is not 
mandatory. It may also include terminology, symbols, packaging, marking, or 
labelling requirements as they apply to a product, process, or production method; 
n) Standardization refers to the process of developing technical specifications of 
standards base don consensus among all interested parties, consumers, trade 
associations, manufacturers and providers of goods and services, non-governmental 
organizations (NGOs), and government agencies and instrumentalities; and 
o) Testing refers to the determination of a product’s characteristics against the 
requirements of the standard. 
 
SECTION 5. Philippine National Quality Policy. – A Philippine National Quality Policy 
shall be developed to ensure that Philippine products and services are globally accepted; earn a 
reputation of highest quality in terms of safety, standards, and acceptability; promote a national 
culture of quality among the citizenry; and the Philippine goods and services are designed, 
manufactured, and supplied in a manner that fully matches or exceeds the needs, expectations, and 
requirements of the retailers, purchasers, consumers, and regulatory authorities in the local, 
regional and international markets. 
 
 
The National Quality Policy shall define the National Quality Infrastructure in accordance 
with the objectives set forth in this Act. 
 
 
 
SECTION 6. Scope of the NQI. – The NQI shall prescired the policy, regulatory, and legal 
frameworks on Standardization, Accreditation, Metrology, and Conformity Assessment that shall 
be defined in the implementing rules and regulations of this Act. 
SECTION 7. Institutional Arrangements. – To achieve the objects set forth in this Act, 
there is hereby created a Philippine National Quality Infrastructure Coordination Council 
(PNQICC), herein referred to as the Council. 


 
The Council shall be composed of the following: 
a) The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary and Department of Science 
and Technology (DOST) Secretaries as Co-Chairpersons; 
b) A representative of the private sector as Vice-Chairperson; 
c) The Secretary of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM);  
d) The Secretary of the Department of Agriculture (DA); 
e) The Secretary of the Department of Energy (DOE); 
f) The Secretary of the Deparment of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR); 
g) The Secretary of the Department of Information and Communications Technology 
(DICT); 
h) The Secretary of the Department of Finance (DOF); 
i) The Secretary of the Department of Health (DOH); 
j) The Secretary of the Department of Tourism (DOT); 
k) The Secretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH); 
l) The Director-General of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA); 
m) A representative of the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP); 
n) Four (4) members from the private sector who shall represent exporters, 
manufacturers, importers, and consumers; and 
o) A representative of the academe or research institutions. 
 
The DTI and DOST Secretaries may designate the appropriate Undersecretary as their alternate, 
and the other ex officio members may designate an alternate with the rank not below the rank of 
Director.  
 
The President shall appoint the Vice-Chairperson from the nominees submitted by the reputable 
business groups or associations.  


 
 
A permanent secretariat shall be organized by the DTI to assist the Council in the discharge of 
its functions. 
 
SECTION 8. Functions of the Philippine National Quality Infrastructure Coordination 
Council. – The Council shall perform the following functions: 
a) Formulate and adopt a Philippine National Quality Policy pursuant to Section 5 
of this Act; 
b) Instill a culture of quality in all levels of society, at the individual and institutional 
levels, through an effective information, education, capacity building, and 
communication campaign to relevant regulatory bodies and to the public; 
c) Ensure the adoption of good regulatory practices and policy cohesión by NQI 
institutions and in the delivery of NQI services, as well as in the development and 
promotion of programs and projects; 
d) Create committees or technical working groups and request the participation, 
assistance and cooperation of government agencies, industry associations, 
consumers, the academe, and other stakeholders, if necessary for the performance 
of its functions and attainment of the objectives of this Act;  
e) Identify the roles and contribution of government agencies, the private sector, 
industry associations, non-government organizations, and other stakeholders in 
attaining the visión and adhering to the principles prescribed in this Act; 
f) Coordinate and support programs, projects, and activities that will foster the 
development of a responsible and sustainable NQI, such as but not limited to 
improving and increasing the availability of experts, technical assessors, 
laboratories, calibration services, and product certification bodies, among others; 
g) Provide direction and order, and encourage the participation of the public and 
private sectors in conformity assessment activities and mechanisms as a means to 
demonstrate compliance with voluntary and mandatory requirements to public and 
private sectors; 
h) Promote the adoption of quality management practices and necessary training to 


 
those in charge of the production and commercialization of goods and services in 
the country; 
i) Promulgate rules to enable the NQI institutions under its direction to offer 
technical support to relevant industries; 
j) Ensure that standardization, accreditation, and metrological processes are in line 
with and comparable to international best practices; 
k) Ensure the proper promulgation of all standards created by other agencies and 
instrumentalities of the government, and perform standardization functions over 
conformity assessment bodies in the country; 
l) Direct the development of the National Standardization Strategy and the National 
Accreditation Strategy, with the involvement of all stakeholders; 
m) Ensure that the country participates in regional and international standardization 
efforts and accreditation activities, arrangements, and fora; 
n) Support the formation of cooperation and conclusión of mutual recognition 
arrangements and agreements with national, regional, and international 
organizations; 
o) Promote the recognition of accreditation among regulatory agencies by: 
i. 
Requiring their testing and calibration laboratories, inspection bodies and 
certifying bodies to seek accreditation; 
ii. 
Requiring government agencies to utilize the services of test and calibration 
laboratories, inspection bodies, certification bodies, and other conformity 
assessment bodies that are accredited by the Accreditation Philippines or a 
signatory member of the Asia Pacific Accreditation Cooperation (APAC), 
International 
Accreditation 
Forum 
(IAF), 
International 
Laboratory 
Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC), and International Halal Accreditation 
Forum (IHAF); 
iii. 
Establishing aggrements, Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and Mutual 
Recognition Arrangement (MRA) with regulatory bodies, other accreditation 


 
bodies, signatory members and other interested parties; 
p) Ensure the maintenance and continuous update of the national measurement 
standards in all relevant fields for the Philippines, guaranteeing that all 
metrological laboratories, insfrastructure, equipment, instruments, artifacts, 
reference standards, and other similar articles are in good condition, intentionally 
compliant, and reliant and other qualities that may be required in the future; 
q) Provide metrological traceability to the International System of Units (ISU) for 
measurements used in regulations, trade, and manufacturing; 
r) Engage and coordinate research and development work with other local 
institutes/bodies having metrological responsibilities (radiation, standard time and 
dissemination, etc.); 
s) Exercise responsibility for legal metrological controls in the country through 
coordination with other executive branches of government; 
t) Ensure uniformity and metrological procedures in the same prescribed manner of 
their implementation; and  
u) Perform such other functions as may be necessary, incidental, or proper to its 
mandate. 
 
SECTION 9. Role of NQI Institutions. – Under the direction of the Philippine National 
Quality Infrastructure Council, all existing NQI institutions involved in standards development, 
accreditation, metrology, and conformity assessment shall continue to perform the mandates and 
functions assigned to them by their respective enabling laws, including but not limited to: 
a) Department of Agriculture (DA)  
i. Bureau of Agriculture and Fisheries Standards (BAFS) pursuant to Republic Act 
No. 8435; 
ii. National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS), pursuant to Republic Act No. 9296; 
b) Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), pursuant to Executive 
Order No. 192, Series of 1987; 
c) Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) 


 
i. National ICT Planning Policy and Standards Bureau (NIPPSB), pursuant to 
Republic Act No. 10844; 
d) Department of Energy (DOE) 
i. Energy Research and Testing Laboratory (ERTL), pursuant to Administrative 
Order No. 38, Series of 2002; 
ii. National Renewable Energy Board (NREB), pursuant to Republic Act No. 9513; 
iii. Oil Industry and Management Bureau (OIMB), pursuant to Republic Act No. 
8479; 
e) Department of Health (DOH) 
i. Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), pursuant to Republic Act No. 9711; 
f) Department of Science and Technology (DOST) 
i. Forest Products Research and Development Institute (FPRDI), pursuant to 
Executive Order No. 128, Series of 1987; 
ii. Industrial Technology Development Institute (ITDI), pursuant to Executive 
Order No. 128, Series of 1987; 
iii. Metals Industry Research and Development Center (MIRDC), pursuant to 
Republic Act No. 4724;  
iv. National Metrology Laboratory (NML), pursuant to Republic Act No. 9236; 
g) Department of Tourism (DOT) 
i. Office of Tourism Standards and Regulations, pursuant to Republic Act No. 
9593; 
h) Department of Transportation (DOTr) 
i. Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), pursuant to 
Executive Order No. 202, Series of 1987 
i) Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) 
i. Bureau of Research and Standards (BRS), pursuant to Executive Order No. 292, 
Series of 1987; 
j) Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) 
i. Bureau of Philippine Standards (BPS), pursuant to Republic Act No. 4109; 
ii. Philippine Accreditation Bureau (PAB), pursuant to Executive Order No. 802, 
Series of 2009; 


 
k) National Commission of Muslim Filipinos (NCMF), pursuant to Republic Act No. 
9997; 
l) National Water Resources Board (NWRB), pursuant to Presidential Decree No. 
1067, s. 1976; and  
m) Local Government Units, pursuant to Republic Act No. 7394 
 
SECTION 10. Appropriations. – The amount necessary for the conduct of activities and 
projects of the Council to effectively perform its mandates functions under this Act, shall be 
sourced from the budgets of the different government departments tasked to implement the same. 
 
SECTION 11. Implementing Rules and Regulations. – Within sixty (60) working days 
from the effectivity of this Act, the DTI and DOST, in consultation with the DBM, DOF, NEDA, 
and other relevant stakeholders shall issue the implementing rules and regulations of this Act. 
SECTION 12. Separability Clause. – If any provision of this Act is declared invalid or 
unconstitutional, the other provisions not affected by such declaration shall remain in full force 
and effect. 
 
SECTION 13. Repealing Clause. – All provisions of other laws, presidential decrees, 
issuances, executive orders, letter of instructions, administrative orders, rules and regulations 
which are contrary to or inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby deemed repealed, 
modified, or amended accordingly. 
 
SECTION 14. Effectivity. – This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication 
in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation. 
Approved,