DAVAO CITY—The Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers will hold its three-day 42nd National Convention starting today in this city with focus on the importance of civil engineering profession in nation building.
A highlight of the convention, to be held at the SM Lanang Premier here, is the meeting of Electoral College tasked to elect its national directors from candidates representing the private and government sectors.
The 15 new board members shall then elect the officers who will manage Pice in 2017.
Pice president Ernesto de Castro reported that under his administration a Memorandum of Agreement was signed with Construction Industry Authority of the Philippines-Philippine Domestic Construction Board on their partnership for Constructors Performance Evaluation System.
This is a system of rating the performance of constructors based on specific criteria set by the Infrastructure Committee of the National Economic and Development Authority to ensure the quality and timely delivery of infrastructure projects.
CPES is expected to raise the level of performance of Philippine constructors to be at par with internationally accepted standards and applies to all public infrastructure projects in the Philippines.
De Castro said with their strong 78,000 registered members, the Pice will be able to help the government in its effort to promote transparency and quality in project implementation.
He also reported the Pice already held its first CPES Accreditation Seminar last Oct. 25 to 27 at the Pice National Headquarters in Quezon City.
“Our CPES partnership with the CIAP-PDCB is very timely as it complements the Government’s agenda to accelerate infrastructure projects and as we all look forward to the next six years as the ‘Golden Age for Philippine construction’,” de Castro said.
He added: “With civil engineers as ‘key-players and dynamic force in nation-building,’ Pice’s role in the CPES program is a clear manifestation that we ‘walk our talk’ of ‘Pice for the country.’”
The signing of the MOA forges Pice’s firm commitment towards “transparency and quality” in the constructed projects and is in line with four themes in the Pice Road Map 2025.
Under the MOA, Pice will organize CPES Accreditation Seminars and will open this to both Pice members and non-members who meet the minimum qualification (i.e., licensed engineer or architect with at least five years of relevant work experience in project implementation).
According to Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno, the government will spend about P890.9 billion for infrastructure across the country next year.
Pice members in 97 chapters from Cagayan to Sulu belonging to leading government departments, agencies and offices, construction companies; consulting firms; colleges and universities are expected to participate in the annual convention.