Angara to builders, urban planners: Help raise living standards of Filipinos

MANILA, Philippines - Senator Edgardo J. Angara urged urban planners, architects, engineers and builders to work on improving the physical surroundings of the Filipino people, as he spoke as guest of honor at the launch of the Technical Writers Group (TWG) and 2013 Conference of the Center for the Designed Environment Professions (CDEP).

CDEP focuses on interdisciplinary research and learning for the advancement of the theory and practice of architecture, landscape architecture, interior design, urban design, planning, fine arts, engineering and other related disciplines.

In attendance were Mary Ann Espina, current Dean of the University of the Philippines-College of Architecture (UPCA); Cristopher Stonewall Espina, former Dean of UPCA; and beauty queen and 2011 topnotcher of the architecture licensure examination.   

“Some of our settlements and communities are so haphazardly designed and planned,” said Angara, chair of the Senate Committee on Education, Arts and Culture. “They’re built so close to each other and are without greenery. Many of our architects, planners, designers, engineers and contractors have designed beautiful homes in villages like Dasmarinas. But what kind of homes have we built for our masses?”

The veteran lawmaker then emphasized the problems caused by poor urban planning and architectural design will only worsen, in the face of climate change, unpredictable weather, and continuous population growth.  

“We’ve got to build a more livable setting for our people,” said Angara, who authored such landmark real estate-related laws as the Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) and the National Cultural Heritage Law. “There is the very heavy responsibility of almost remaking, redesigning, and improving our own environment to make it more pleasant and raise, even just in the physical sense, a sign of hope and optimism for the future of our people.”

He concluded, “I hope that the new generation of builders and designers will craft and implement city and community plans for the next generation better than what our generation had done for ourselves.”