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Captains of builders 08 Nov. 2007 |
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At a recent meeting of
the Philippine Constructors Association (PCA), it was a first chance for
me to personally address the captains of our construction industry. Represented in that group, the oldest trade organization for construction, were companies that shaped the Makati and Ortigas skyline, and just about every major edifice in the country. PCA has been described by former President Fidel V. Ramos as "a potent catalyst in the uplift of the local construction industry and in the task of nation building." It was to the latter – the task of nation building – that I addressed myself when I met them. As Chairman of the Pro-Performance System Steering Committee, I must work closely with the PCA and its membership. As Cabinet oversight of the Government’s R1.7 Trillion infrastructure program, I must partner with the organization that is the catalyst for the continuous improvement of construction standards and practices of our construction industry, making it sustainable and globally competitive. PCA president Jorge A. Consunji, president of DM Consunji, Inc. and heir to the Consunji Construction empire, affirmed the commitment of PCA to help us ensure that our projects are implemented with efficiency, effectiveness and transparency. Despite the size of the shoes he had to fill, that of construction icon David M. Consunji, Jorge hardly showed any unease, at all. He surely is your classic chip off the old block. Initially, we will share with them the list of our monitored projects, and the bidding schedules. We are monitoring a total of 2,466 projects, with 680 or them covered in the Comprehensive and Integrated Infrastructure Program or CIIP. While some of the issues that beset projects have to do with Right of Way (ROW) acquisition, others need design and engineering works, and it is in these areas that PCA can help. We invited PCA to partner with us by investing in "ready-to-go" projects, which are just awaiting implementation. An interesting insight in that meeting is the dearth of manpower in some technical or specialized fields in construction. Mr. Consunji noted the irony in having unfilled jobs in their industry, for lack of qualified applicants, while there were still many who remained unemployed, a classic case of manpower mismatch. We agreed to bring this up jointly with the appropriate training or planning agencies, but in the meantime, PCA will come up with specific proposals that could immediately close those gaps. One such measure proposed by Jorge himself are educational/training loans from the Social Security System, for the members themselves and not just their beneficiaries or dependents. From this, the individual member/worker can take care of his technology upgrade or update. We will also look into the policy on lending levels of funding institutions for construction and infra projects, so that our companies will be in an improved position to compete with their foreign counterparts. Of course, our policy is to give preference to Filipino constructors, in every case that this is feasible. By itself, the government cannot bring about the realization of our massive infrastructure program. It should be a product of the determined and consolidated efforts of the government and its partners, such as PCA. The Filipino constructors, I was pleased to note, is more than up to the challenge. No wonder they specifically asked for an in-depth discussion of our Super Region infrastructure development program. |
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