Construction

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has released P11.2 billion to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for the provision and maintenance of basic education facilities, including elementary and secondary schools, technical-vocational laboratories, and water and sanitation facilities.

The remaining three packages of the multibillion Secondary National Roads Development Project in Eastern Samar province are expected to be completed by May. 

The European Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines (ECCP) assailed the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB) for its refusal to accept the accreditation of fully owned foreign construction companies that are willing to invest in the country.

Despite the back­lash of low oil price in the world market and an economy that sends thousands of Filipino overseas workers back home, Saudi Arabia has secured financing for the construction of the $1.23-billion Jeddah Tow­er that will rival Dubai’s iconic Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building.

By Daryl Rose Virtudazo The newly elected president of the Chamber of Real Estate & Builders’ Associations Inc. (Creba), Charlie A.V. Gorayeb, said he will still push for the creation of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (DHUD) as one of the five-point agenda of his administration.

The Public-Private Partnership Center (PPPC) will continue to advocate the enactment of the PPP Act to amend the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) Law and sustain the momentum of the country’s PPP program after the Aquino administration ends.

Vice presidential candidate Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. vowed to pursue urban land reform program and improve its implementation to achieve its original intent of improving the lot of the urban poor.

Environment officials in the Central Visayas are calling on local chief executives to use geohazard maps for disaster management, as it announced the completion of the release of those maps for all local government units.

Engineer Ernesto S. De Castro was elected national president of the Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers Inc. (Pice) in a during an executive session of the newly elected National Board of Directors that was held recently at the Bacolod SMX Convention Center, Bacolod City, Negros Occidental province.

The Philippines recently took part in the global launching of the International Infrastructure Support System (IISS), a project preparation platform developed by the Sustainable Infrastructure Foundation (SIF) in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank.