Gearing up for post-pandemic challenges

In 2022, the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB) set a new record in its performance by receiving and processing more than 50,000 applications.

Buoyed by this accomplishment, lawyer Herbert D.G. Matienzo, PCAB executive director, said “we are now ready to meet the growing demands of a more robust Philippine construction industry in 2023.”

Matienzo said the Board successfully overcame the challenges of the corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic with the help of upgraded processes and digitalization.

He added, “In our commitment to uplift the industry, we successfully pursued an ISO accreditation in 2022.”

Matienzo credited strong leadership, hard work and perseverance of the board’s management and staff for this accomplishment. According to a Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) study, the country’s construction industry is expected to register an annual average growth of 7.3 percent from 2023 to 2026. This growth is supported by government investments in transport, health, education, and energy infrastructure.

Further citing PSA figures, Matienzo said the agency reported that the construction industry’s value grew by 19 percent year-on-year (YoY) in the second quarter of 2022, preceded by YoY growths of 14.7 percent in the first quarter of 2022. Growth was recorded at 18.6 percent in the last quarter of 2021.

“Supported by ongoing transport, infrastructure, and housing projects, the industry’s cumulative growth was projected at a healthy 14.9 percent by end-2022 versus the previous year,” Matienzo said.

The growth of the country’s construction industry would be greatly boosted by the plan of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) to eliminate the housing backlog in the country, he said.

The department, tasked to address housing shortages, revealed a current shortfall of 6.5 million housing units. The shortage is expected to increase to 10.9 million by the end of 2028.

See Also

Bank of America unveils currency, hedging services in PH

Meanwhile, PCAB is now fully capable of performing full digital licensing activities and continues to look for ways to improve its performance.

Arthur N. Escalante, a member of the board, said 2022 was another banner year for PCAB, which received and processed more than 50,000 applications. With upgraded processes and digitalization, the PCAB was in an even better position “to meet the growing demands of a more robust Philippine construction industry in 2023.”

Escalante added, “We can say with pride that we have successfully coasted through the challenges of the pandemic, addressing issues with the help of upgraded processes and digitalization. In our commitment to uplift the industry, we successfully pursued an ISO accreditation in 2022.” He promised there would be more enhancement programs in the future.

He credited strong leadership, hard work and perseverance of the management and staff of PCAB for its accomplishments, this feat was attained. With a Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) study predicting that the country’s construction industry would register an annual average growth of 7.3 percent from 2023 to 2026, supported by government investments in transport, health, education, and energy infrastructure, Escalante said PCAB would commitment keep up with the continued growth of the industry.