We have admin people, lawyers and communications.
Then you have the contractors – the Cebu Link Joint
Venture, composed of some of the world’s major
global construction companies: Acciona, which is
Spanish, and its local construction partners DMCI
and First Balfour. The third group is our owner’s
engineer and consultants COWI, along with DCCD.
The fourth team is our independent consultants.
While these four major principals share the common
goal of completing the project, they all have their
different approaches.
How do you make sure these diverse groups
work together cohesively and effectively?
We have weekly coordination meetings. Since this is
an EPC [engineering procurement and construction]
contract, it’s imperative for the project’s success that we
hold design and construction meetings every week.
That way, everything gets addressed – what’s happening
with the design process, what’s going on during
construction and so on.What made you move from engineering
to business leadership?
I finished my course as a civil engineer in the
Philippines and, fortunately, my first work experience
was bridge construction in the northern part of Cebu.
That was a component of a 60-kilometre road project,
which has four or five bridges now. Following that,
I was exposed to business development as part of my
engineering background.
After the heavy construction part of the early stage
of my career, I went into the oil industry, fast-food
industry and later back to the real estate construction
industry. In all these areas, my main responsibility was
growing our business – increasing our network of
service stations for the downstream oil industry,
fast-food outlets for Jollibee Foods and initiating more
residential projects under my previous employers. With
that, I could harness my experience in engineering
towards project management and business expansion.“This part of the country
will continue to be an
investor’s paradise.”