Proposed Architect office gets backing

CEBU, Philippines - Mandaue City Vice Mayor Bercede has assured the local architects pushing for the creation of the Office of the City Architect that he will work on its passage once the proposal is submitted before the City Council.

Bercede made this statement in this week’s ceremonial ribbon-cutting of the billboard of the United Architects of the Philippines (UAP) C-1 chapter at the City Hall grounds early this week.

The UAP C-1 district celebrated the first Architecture Week this week, and among the highlights of the celebrations was putting up the group’s billboard at the City Plaza, feeding programs to 50 Subangdaku children and yesterday’s exhibit at a mall in the North Reclamation Area.

District director Jensen Racho said they picked the city to become the venue of their weeklong celebration because of its bike lane, the Green Building Code and other pro-environment projects which are parallel to their own.

Racho’s group has been doing mural paintings and beautification in Barangay Subangdaku.

Last week, the group has also appealed to the city government to create the Office of the City Architect, saying it can help in its development, especially in solving the traffic problems.

“There is a need for the public to know how important our profession is in building and planning the city,” he said.

“Our campaign is to protect our profession and to help Mandaue City create the Office of Architecture…We believe this office can help in the development of the city,” he added.

Racho said the office can help in creating developmental projects for the next five or 10 years. It can also be tapped to help the city preserve its heritage structures for the next generation to enjoy, he said.

He said Tacloban City already has an Office of the Architect before super typhoon Yolanda struck, and it was reportedly able to help in the rebuilding efforts there.

He said the architects can also help in solving the traffic problems of the city through planning and urban development conceptualization.

Apart from this, Racho also said the office can help when Mandaue implements its proposed Green Building Code, which promotes environment-friendly buildings in the city. This is apart from doing major tasks which are presently done by the Office of the Engineer. (FREEMAN)