THE PRESENT SCENARIO

• Foreign preference

  Present government policy environment , relating to the construction industry, provides for foreign preference towards architectural, engineering, and contracting services as well as materials supply, thereby placing the local industry at a distinct disadvantage. The colonial mentality in our culture further exacerbates the situation with no clear indication from government on how to reverse the situation. Government bureaucrats have the tendency to give way to proposals of foreign consultants and representatives of foreign lending institutions to provide for extra-ordinary conditions and inflexible pre-qualification standards that ensures that the local industry is effectively shut out from participation. Provisions for joint ventures are but a farce as the foreign firms are literally in control of everything.

• Onerous contracts

  Contracts utilized in the country, both for public and private sectors, are literally one-sided in favor of the project owners’ protection without taking cognizance of their basic responsibilities to opposite contractual parties. Project owners, be they government or private, have resorted to pushing for compliance of services from the construction industry without fulfilling their contractual obligations to pay on time. The industry effectively is forced to be the informal financier of projects without interest.

• Lack of Projects and Massive Layoffs

  The present economic crisis of the country and the flawed government infrastructure funding policy has led to the decline in infrastructure project starts. This situation has reduced the interest of private investors in the Philippines and thereby led to the further decline of private sector construction project starts. The absence of a viable housing program has reduced interest on housing construction. This situation has effectively led to massive layoffs in the construction industry, thereby putting hundreds of thousands of families in abject poverty.

• Increasing Strain on Labor Relations

  With the Labor Code not taking cognizance of the uniqueness of the Construction Industry culture, misunderstandings tend to be the general rule and pushes various fronts within the industry to take adversarial positioning, a situation that does not augur well for growth.

• Proliferation Of Substandard Products

  The downslide of the national economy has become the convenient excuse by unscrupulous manufacturers and distributors to flood the market with substandard materials to the disadvantage of the consuming public. Government has been inefficient in the enforcement aspect. Proper incentives are not in place to promote quality.

• Absence Of Industry Direction

  As government administrations change every national election, so does the importance the industry enjoys with it. The lack of a safety culture and a skills development culture are reasons why the industry growth has been much in wanting, compared to the rest of Asia.

What is the Party-List System of Election?

The Present Scenario in the Philippine Construction Industry.