A player in the construction industry urged construction firms to continuously upskill and reskill their workforce, as well as be up to date with the latest innovations to be at par with foreign counterparts.

Engr. Ronaldo Elepano Jr., president of the Philippine Constructors Association (PCA), maintained in a media briefing on Thursday that this is their fair piece of advice to construction players, as their confidence in the Marcos Jr. administration’s ‘Build, Better, More’ program remains intact.

“We trust the ‘Build, Better, More’ project of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., and we expect more infrastructure projects to come to help the industry. That is why there is a need to prepare and train our people. Reskilling and upskilling are imperative right now,” Elepano Jr. said on the sidelines of the opening of PHILSCONTRUCT at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City.

He said they are also banking on the thrust of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) to produce more programs for the construction workforce, upskilling and reskilling, including digital capabilities.

“Upskilling and reskilling is the key for the industry to get bigger projects and to produce more projects. There’s indeed a mismatch because we are not focused on training our workforce. We remain very traditional in bringing in workers to our worksites as most of our workers are hired even if they are high school graduates. But the important thing now is to prepare them to a certain pathway that redounds to training,” he explained.

However, he said TESDA and the government cannot do this alone, which is why the intervention of the private sector is badly needed.

“TESDA has this training regulation for these workers to participate. Also, the government is funding some of this training through vouchers from TESDA. We hope we can continue this that is why our collaboration with TESDA has been ongoing. They have tapped the PCA to be their partner for the industry workers’ skills development. TESDA will provide the format for training and the training will be initiated by industry players. Trainers and assessors will be provided also by the industry,” Elipano added.

Based on the study by the global think tank Research and Markets, the Philippine construction industry is expected to grow by 8.4 percent to reach P1.94 trillion this year.

A compound annual growth rate of three percent is also projected during 2024-2028, with the country's construction output expected to reach P2.58 trillion by 2028, indicating substantial growth potential, the study said.

Further, the study emphasized that despite near-term challenges in certain construction sectors, the Philippines's construction industry is poised for significant growth.

“The industry is expected to grow steadily over the next four quarters, with the growth momentum continuing over the forecast period. The construction industry in the Philippines is poised for significant growth, driven by government investment, urbanization, and a focus on sustainability,” according to the study.

Chinese firms involved in the construction business dominated the number of booths that occupied the two floors of the SMX Convention Center during the first day of the PHILCONSTRUCT, followed by Singaporeans, and Koreans among other countries.

Elepano noted that this was because most of their construction projects are supplied with Chinese construction materials that are significantly cheaper and easy to import compared to Australian and other European alternatives.