GineersNow Construction magazine Dec2019 hardware, civil engineers, heavy equipment, machinery, BIM, infrastructure, mining, pipes contractor cement building materials tool EPC, contractors

B E S T S T O R I E S O F 2 0 1 9
How it all started
PHILCONSTRUCT was first
launched in 1990 through the
Philippine Constructors
Association’s (PCA) president,
J.V. Angeles. President Angeles
was known to have lots of
uncertainties about the
exhibition; however, he still gave
the go signal to finally unveil the
event. Back then, it was called the
‘Philippine Construction
Equipment and Building
Materials Exposition’ and was
eventually changed to
PHILCONSTRUCT. For four
years, the event was held every
March in the ballrooms of Hotel
Nikko Manila (now Dusit Thani
Manila). Participating companies
were less than a hundred at that
time.
In 1995, the event was moved to
November at the newly opened
EDSA Shangri-la Hotel in
Mandaluyong City to coincide
with PCA’s Golden Anniversary
Celebration. In the same edition,
the first Technoforum Seminar
Series was held. It was also in the
same year where the
Association of Carriers and
Equipment Lessors, Inc. (ACEL)
joined PCA through displaying a
variety of construction
equipment at the expo.
After two years,
PHILCONSTRUCT finds a new
home at the World Trade Center
Metro Manila (WTCMM), giving
it more than 1,400 square meters
of exhibition space. The show
indeed looked better, but despite
the progress and the upgrade, the
180
event was not making enough
to cover its expenses,
PHILCONSTRUCT is facing a
financial struggle.
In 2004, PCA was undeniably
at the brink of canceling the
PHILCONSTRUCT show for
good. PCA has always had a great
vision for this event, but at that
time, that vision was not quite
translating into reality. PCA was
ready to quit at that moment, but
then decided to give it one last
shot and awarded the project to a
new events team – Global-Link.
It was also in the same year that
PCA launched Estilo de Vida.
Regardless of the possibility of
losing more than the association
can handle, PCA still pushed
through an inter-school interior
design competition, through the
leadership of Mr. Jorge Consunji.
Estilo de Vida has now become
an annual competition that is
always looked forward to by
students from different
prestigious universities and
colleges.
It was hard to cope up, find
sponsors, look for participants,
reach the right people, and
convince associations and
related organizations that this
is the platform for them, but
the event slowly recovered and
made it bigger a little year after
year. In its 16th edition, the event
received recognition from the
public sector and had the Vice
President Noli de Castro lead its
opening rites. In the next year,