Secretary's Corner
HON.
VICTOR A. DOMINGO
LIVING UP TO THE STANDARDS OF THE ENGINEERING
PROFESSION
(Speech of Secretary Victor A. Domingo before the
Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers, Manila Chapter at the
Philippine Columbian Clubhouse on December 4, 2009)
President Sadain, Officers and Members of the Manila
Chapter of the Philippine Institute Of Civil Engineers,
Distinguished Guests, Ladies And Gentlemen:
I always welcome every opportunity to be with those
who are giving concrete contributions to our country’s progress and
development. Every building, road, bridge, dam, seawall, airport or
harbor you construct enhances our country’s capacity for economic
growth.
You are the best citizens of our country. There
should be more of you in government since you are more productive
and useful. I say this because I am apprehensive of the entry of
many entertainment celebrities into politics. Running the government
is a serious business not a circus. Engineers would make better and
more capable congressmen, governors or senators. Perhaps even
President.
But let us not talk of politics this evening. I am
confident that our people will elect those who are truly deserving
of their trust and are worthy of the office they aspire for.
Let us instead focus on our responsibilities to our
country and our people.
Our immediate concern is the rehabilitation and
reconstruction of infrastructure projects destroyed by the recent
floods caused by typhoon Ondoy. Much has already been done in this
direction. We bidded out a number of priority projects and coaxed
the winning bidders to undertake them on credit since the funds were
still unavailable. I am confident we can finish these projects
earlier than expected.
The complete rehabilitation and upgrading of some of
our damaged infrastructure projects will take at least two more
years to finish. The collateral damage the typhoons Pepeng and Ondoy
caused in terms of farming, flood management, and disaster risk
reduction as estimated by the world bank is about P208 Billion, 55
percent of which will have to be financed by the government.
The residual adverse effect on the recent typhoons on
the poorest citizens in the affected areas are almost incalculable.
There is indeed much more to be done. I hope the
entire engineering society of our country will take up the challenge
of rebuilding our damaged infrastructures. I am counting on the
manila chapter of the PICE to spearhead this effort.
But the greater challenge is to design a broad,
comprehensive, and permanent infrastructure program for specific
areas in our country prone to natural disasters and calamities,
particularly metro manila and nearby provinces.
We are now working on such a blueprint with some of
our highly respected development planners, engineers and architects.
What is envisioned to be built is no longer a
spillway from Laguna de Bay to Manila Bay. This plan is now
considered too costly and inadequate.
Constructing a concrete highway all along the long
shores of Laguna Bay and two dams to impound the waters from the
mountains of the Province of Rizal are the main components of this
program. This is not only a comprehensive and massive flood control
project. The Laguna de Bay will be rehabilitated, its economic value
as a marine and fishing industry sanctuary will be restored.
Reclamation projects will also be undertaken in most of the
municipalities along the proposed lakeside highway.
We will be calling on your collective genius and
experience in realizing these projects.
We are counting on the private sector, the highly
successful and established construction firms to handle these
projects under mutually beneficial arrangements. We are confident we
could also find financing for these project from foreign sources.
I am inviting the Philippine Institute of Civil
Engineers to join us in embracing the great challenges in
infrastructure developments for the 21st century.
As we answer the call for higher public service, let
us also look inward into ourselves.
Have we lived up to the ethical standards of our
professions? As engineers, have we done our best to construct
infrastructure projects of high quality and esthetic values. Did we
truly deserve every peso we earned?
Join me in regaining for the department of public
works and highways the respect and integrity that it should deserve.
As the editorial of the Manila Times yesterday points out and I
quote: “repairing the integrity of the public works office is as
important as rebuilding the damaged roads or constructing new ones.”
The editorial added and i quote: “public trust is
indespensable for an agency entrusted with billions of pesos for
infrastructure building.”
I will do my best to merit the honor of heading the
DPWH within the few months I will be in this position.
As we continue the rehabilitation and reconstruction
efforts, we will zero in on realizing the infrastructure targets of
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in her last State of the Nation
Address.
Being an accountant, I am quite good in arithmetic,
geometry and mathematical calculations. I intend to use my modest
expertise in assessing the cost of projects contracted for. I will
also exercise my oversight authority in supervising on-going public
works.
I am truly glad you invited me to your Christmas
party tonight. Let us keep faith with the spirit of Christmas and
share whatever blessings we have with the less fortunate among our
people.
Thank you and God Bless to you all.
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