From the country's fastest- growing industry, averaging 10 per cent growth per annum in the past five years, the construction sector contracted by 10 per cent in the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Incidentally, the pandemic year 2020 happens to be the 75th year anniversary of the Philippine Constructors Association (PCA), formed to rebuild the City of Manila in the wake of World War II.
In November 29, 1945, nine industrialists led by A. G. Ner lobbied for local contractors to reconstruct Manila, the second most devastated city during World War II, next to Warsaw, Poland.
The industry alliance rebuilt critical infrastructure and basic facilities such as roads, bridges, power and water networks, seaport, and airport, as well as government buildings damaged by the war.
This year, the organization found itself in the middle of a third different war, non-atomic but equally devastating.
Now is the time to act as one, build as one," declared PCA President Wilfredo Decena.
"What we need is a synchronized effort of both public and private sectors to win this war against COVID-19 and rise again as a stronger nation."
This year, PCA also launched the 10-year Philippine Construction Industry Roadmap which feeds into the 30-year National Infrastructure Program (2023-2052).
The program covers major infrastructure projects of the national government from transport, energy, and water to ICT and social infrastructure.
The PCA had been involved in every landmark development project in the country, from the first airport, the Manila International Airport (MIA), to the newest superhighway, the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway or TPLEX.
PCA built the countrys first toll road the North Diversion Road that ran from Balintawak, Quezon City to Malolos, Bulacan.
Aside from constructing the North and South Expressways, the group also built MIA now known as NAIA, Asias first international airport, Ambuklao Dam, the longest dam in Asia, and the San Juanico Bridge connecting Leyte and Samar, the country's longest bridge over seawater.
With the country currently battling another kind of war, the construction sector which accounts for about 12% of the domestic economy is helping the nation recover.
The sector contributes about P600 billion to the countrys gross domestic product every year.
It is also the countrys biggest employer in the last 10 years, providing work to more than 4.2 million Filipinos which account for 10% of the total workforce.
To address the most urgent need in thebpsndemic, PCA partnered with the Ayala Group in the fit-out construction for 9,700 square meters of space at the World Trade Center into a 500-bed quarantine facility in a span of 7 days.
With its member EEI Corp. and others, PCA built quarantine facilities at COVID referral hospitals such as the UP-PGH, Quezon Institute, National Lung Center of the Philippines, Antipolo Medical Systems, Mandaluyong Medical Center, San Juan Medical Center, Sta. Rosa Medical Center, and Don Mariano Marcos Hospital.
PCA led the formulation of health and safety protocols for the construction sector to convince the government to allow resumption of work at the construction sites.
The association also accelerated its digitization program, maximizing online platforms to reach its members.
This enabled faster mobilization, especially during Typhoons Rolly and Ulysses. PCA provided relief goods as well as equipment for clearing operations to the hardest hit provinces.
PCA has gone a long way, indeed, from professionalizing the construction industry to building up its manpower capability.
In the 1960s, PCA leaders, David Consunji, Anton Kho, and Antonio Diokno, pushed for the passage of the Contractors License Law (Republic Act No. 4566) creating the Philippine Contractors License Board, now known as the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB).
Later on, more laws were passed creating the Philippine Overseas Construction Board (POCB) for local firms pursuing projects abroad, the Construction Manpower Development Foundation and the Construction Industry Authority of the Philippines (CIAP).
PCA expanded to 12 chapters nationwide, in Pangasinan, Pampanga, Bulacan, Bataan, Marikina Valley, Manila-Quezon City (Metropolitan), Rizal, Ormoc, Leyte, Negros, Cebu, and Davao.
The organization reached out to neighboring countries as well. It was one of the pioneer members of the International Federation of Asian and Western Pacific Contractors Association (IFAWPCA) founded in Manila in 1956.
IFAWPCA today groups builders in 18 countriesfrom Japan and Korea to Australia, ASEAN, India and the South-Asian capitals of New Delhi and Sri Lanka.
PCA is also active in the ASEAN Constructors Federation and the Construction Sector Transparency Initiative (CoST) of the World Bank and UKs Department for International Development, promoting transparency and accountability in the global construction sector.
Today, Filipino engineers, architects, designers, and construction workers are known to be among the best in the world.
Since 2018, PCA has been running a Construction Program Management Masterclass, now being replicated in the region.
In the 1990s, PCA and the Asian Institute of Management also offered a construction project management class that produced some of todays leaders.
To build-up manpower capability in the construction sector, PCA worked with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) for two training programs - the Pambansang Treyners ng Konstruksyon and the Construction Supervisors Training Program which empowered over 2,000 talents nationwide.
PCA also organizes the biggest construction trade show in the Asian region, Philconstruct, which last year drew 45,000 visitors.