WMSU signs MOA with ZCMC-MDP
By: Rommel S. Reyes
The Western Mindanao State University headed by the University President Dr. Grace J. Rebollos together with Dean Domingo A. Abarro III, fuap signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the Zamboanga City Medical Center headed by Dr. Romeo A. Ong, chief of Hospital, for the preparation and re-plan of the Hospitals’ Master Site Development Plan. In the Memorandum of Agreement the College of Architecture will provide the professional services and manpower in the ground works. The team for the preparation of the Master Site Development Plan of the College of architecture through the Community Extension Services is headed by Architect Joseph Andrew L. Sahial, trained in the field of hospital design to be assisted by Architect Noel DS Querijero.
The Memorandum of Agreements’ salient features therein are the following: The College of Architecture shall provide the technical and manpower assistance for the preparation of the Master Site Development Plan and Landscaping of the hospital premises in accordance with the approved scope of works to be used as terms of reference. In the performance of the works, the students of the College of Architecture may be allowed to participate and their participation therein, including the outputs, shall be credited as part of their curricular requirement as determined by the college dean. Another significant aspect stated that for the purposes of the agreement, the University hereby authorizes the College Dean through Architect Domingo A. Abarro III to act as Coordinator or point person, to direct, administer, oversee or supervise the project implementation in consultation with of other appropriate University or College personnel. Also the ZCMC shall be responsible for administrative support aspect of the project, including the payment of allowable honoraria to University personnel rendering services therein and such other expenses necessary to carry out the same. Also Included is the involvement of the University through the College of Architecture is in the design, preparation and prosecution of the plans under the project shall be properly acknowledge by the ZCMC, including in signage or markers, as contribution of the University and such outputs, including all the knowledge and information derived from or generated by the same may be used by the University for instruction, research and other germane purposes. Furthermore that in order to insure faithful implementation of the Master Site Development Plan, the Architects involved in its preparation shall likewise be allowed to be actively involved in its implementation. For that purpose, the Parties may enter into another agreement to provide for the details of such cooperation and coordination.
Witnessing the signing and acceptance of the Memorandum of Agreement was Dean Eduardo F. Sanson of the College of Law, Dean Dante Jesus R. Villareal of the College of Engineering and Technology, Ms. Violeta C. Magaso the ZCMC Administrative Officer, Mr. Richard Ferdinand Bucoy the ZCMC Budget Officer and Ms. Zenaida V. Casimiro the Accountant of the Zamboanga City Medical Center together with their Administrative Staff. The proposed implementation for the Master Site Development Plan will be by either mid-year of 2010 or early 2011.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Academic Freedom
Academic Freedom
By: Rommel S. Reyes
Most of my colleague in the academe does not know the real meaning of academic freedom I am not interpreting it in the negative but more of informative, let me explain more. In the 1987 Philippine Constitution particularly article XIV section 5 paragraph 2 the provision states that “Academic freedom shall be enjoyed in all institutions of higher learning”. But what does the provision means? There are two ways to interpret academic freedom, first, the academic freedom enjoyed by the different Colleges and Universities, and second, the academic freedom enjoyed by the individual faculty members.
For the institution, academic freedom grants the University the exclusive discretion to determine to whom among its graduates it shall confer academic recognition, based on its established standard. One of a known justice of the US Supreme Court and a former professor of the Harvard Law School referred to what he called the business of a university and the four essential freedoms in the following language: “It is the most business of a university to provide that atmosphere which is most conducive to speculation, experiment and creation. It is an atmosphere in which there prevail the four essential freedom of a university -to determine for itself on academic grounds who may teach, what may be taught, how it shall be taught and who may be admitted to study.”
For individual faculty members, one of the most authoritative definitions which are accepted by most of the educational world is the 1940 statement of principles of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). It states in part that academic freedom means that: “(a) The teacher is entitled to full freedom in research and in publication of the results, subject to adequate performance of his other academic duties. . . (b) The teacher is entitled to freedom in the classroom in discussing his subjects, but he should be careful not to introduce into his teaching controversial matter which has no relation to his subject. . . (c) The college or university teacher is a citizen, a member of a learned profession, and an officer in an educational institution. When he speaks or writes as a citizen, he should be free from institutional censorship or discipline, but his special position in the community imposes special commitment. And as teacher, he should remember that the public may judge his profession and where he is employed he may be judge by the use of his utterances. He therefore, must be accurate and must exercise restraint and should show respect for the opinion of others and he must exert his effort that he is not an institutional spokesperson.
As to academic freedom of students, most of the jurisprudence decided by the Supreme Court academic freedom on their part is mainly as the right to enjoy in school the guarantees under the Bill of Rights particularly Article III section 4 of the 1987 Philippines Constitution.
By: Rommel S. Reyes
Most of my colleague in the academe does not know the real meaning of academic freedom I am not interpreting it in the negative but more of informative, let me explain more. In the 1987 Philippine Constitution particularly article XIV section 5 paragraph 2 the provision states that “Academic freedom shall be enjoyed in all institutions of higher learning”. But what does the provision means? There are two ways to interpret academic freedom, first, the academic freedom enjoyed by the different Colleges and Universities, and second, the academic freedom enjoyed by the individual faculty members.
For the institution, academic freedom grants the University the exclusive discretion to determine to whom among its graduates it shall confer academic recognition, based on its established standard. One of a known justice of the US Supreme Court and a former professor of the Harvard Law School referred to what he called the business of a university and the four essential freedoms in the following language: “It is the most business of a university to provide that atmosphere which is most conducive to speculation, experiment and creation. It is an atmosphere in which there prevail the four essential freedom of a university -to determine for itself on academic grounds who may teach, what may be taught, how it shall be taught and who may be admitted to study.”
For individual faculty members, one of the most authoritative definitions which are accepted by most of the educational world is the 1940 statement of principles of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). It states in part that academic freedom means that: “(a) The teacher is entitled to full freedom in research and in publication of the results, subject to adequate performance of his other academic duties. . . (b) The teacher is entitled to freedom in the classroom in discussing his subjects, but he should be careful not to introduce into his teaching controversial matter which has no relation to his subject. . . (c) The college or university teacher is a citizen, a member of a learned profession, and an officer in an educational institution. When he speaks or writes as a citizen, he should be free from institutional censorship or discipline, but his special position in the community imposes special commitment. And as teacher, he should remember that the public may judge his profession and where he is employed he may be judge by the use of his utterances. He therefore, must be accurate and must exercise restraint and should show respect for the opinion of others and he must exert his effort that he is not an institutional spokesperson.
As to academic freedom of students, most of the jurisprudence decided by the Supreme Court academic freedom on their part is mainly as the right to enjoy in school the guarantees under the Bill of Rights particularly Article III section 4 of the 1987 Philippines Constitution.
Building Setback
Building Setback
By: Rommel S. Reyes
First of all let us define what a building setback is? A building setback refers to an open space measured between a building wall up to the lot boundary or the property line; this can either be the backyard, side yard or the front yard, it is sometimes refers to as a court. Building setback is appropriate to either socialized housing projects with a lot area of not less than one hundred square meters or to a multi storey or high rise building located in an urban area with their minimum lot area requirement. There are no problems to apply building setback to a larger lot area.
Under our Civil Code of 1950, particularly article 670 of the code and also known as the property law, the provision states that “No windows, apertures, balconies, or other similar projections which afford a direct view upon or towards an adjoining land or tenement can be made, without leaving a distance of two meters between the wall in which they are made and such contiguous property. Neither can side or oblique views upon or towards such conterminous property be had, unless there be a distance of sixty centimeters. The non-observance of this distance does not give rise to prescription.” But article 669 of the code provides that “when the distances in article 670 are not observed, the owner of the a wall which is not a party wall, adjoining a tenement or piece of land belonging to another, can make in its openings to admit light at the height of the ceiling joists or immediately under the ceiling, and of the size of thirty centimeters square, and, in every case, with an iron grating imbedded in the wall and with a wire screen.” The 2.00 meters mention in article 670 refers to the setback requirement. While the 0.30 square meters opening mention in article 669 refers to the lighting or ventilation requirement, the 60 centimeters mention in article 670 refers to a corbel or a bay window projecting and allowing side viewing.
On the National Building Code of 1977, chapter VIII section 804 of the law provides that “the minimum horizontal dimension of court shall not be less than 2.00 meters. The court herein refers to the setback requirement. And this code was further amended through the implementing rules and regulation issued by the Secretary of the Department of Public Works and highways published in a national newspaper on April 1, 2005 where the setback may increase depending of the uses of the building. In the amended rules side yard and backyard remains at 2.00 meters while the front yard may increase depending on the road right of way. Meaning the wider the road right of way becomes the greater the area of front yard turn out to be. With respect to high rise building, the greater the height of the building becomes the setback requirement increases by 300 millimeters or 0.30 meters of every floor up to 14th floor. You will observe that the wall of the building becomes like a face of a stairs. But the Architect who will design the building may go directly using the maximum setback requirement for high rise building which will sum up of or a total of 6.20 meters from the property line. The area for setback can be utilized by providing a firewall of two (2) hours fire resistant in the property line without any opening.
The setback requirement is important to apply now a day in designing buildings. This will prevent the spread of fire and to enjoy light and ventilation, good orientation, air space and the right to privacy. This setback must be enforce and implement properly by the competent agency concerned. And the Architect who drew the plans must consider the setback requirement and apply them or incorporate them as part of the design requirement. Otherwise, they are believed to be ignorant of the law and they are not excuse from compliance therewith.
If there will be conflict as to the interpretation of the laws, in the legal parlance, when there are two conflicting laws, concern must be given to the special law. Meaning, the Civil Code is a general law while the National Building Code is a special law, in this case, the building code must prevail over the Civil Code. We have to observe the rule of law, and must enforce them accordingly by the concerned agency, or else, if not implemented by those persons in authority or by the designing architect, then, we rather think about the other law, which is the “Law of karma”.
By: Rommel S. Reyes
First of all let us define what a building setback is? A building setback refers to an open space measured between a building wall up to the lot boundary or the property line; this can either be the backyard, side yard or the front yard, it is sometimes refers to as a court. Building setback is appropriate to either socialized housing projects with a lot area of not less than one hundred square meters or to a multi storey or high rise building located in an urban area with their minimum lot area requirement. There are no problems to apply building setback to a larger lot area.
Under our Civil Code of 1950, particularly article 670 of the code and also known as the property law, the provision states that “No windows, apertures, balconies, or other similar projections which afford a direct view upon or towards an adjoining land or tenement can be made, without leaving a distance of two meters between the wall in which they are made and such contiguous property. Neither can side or oblique views upon or towards such conterminous property be had, unless there be a distance of sixty centimeters. The non-observance of this distance does not give rise to prescription.” But article 669 of the code provides that “when the distances in article 670 are not observed, the owner of the a wall which is not a party wall, adjoining a tenement or piece of land belonging to another, can make in its openings to admit light at the height of the ceiling joists or immediately under the ceiling, and of the size of thirty centimeters square, and, in every case, with an iron grating imbedded in the wall and with a wire screen.” The 2.00 meters mention in article 670 refers to the setback requirement. While the 0.30 square meters opening mention in article 669 refers to the lighting or ventilation requirement, the 60 centimeters mention in article 670 refers to a corbel or a bay window projecting and allowing side viewing.
On the National Building Code of 1977, chapter VIII section 804 of the law provides that “the minimum horizontal dimension of court shall not be less than 2.00 meters. The court herein refers to the setback requirement. And this code was further amended through the implementing rules and regulation issued by the Secretary of the Department of Public Works and highways published in a national newspaper on April 1, 2005 where the setback may increase depending of the uses of the building. In the amended rules side yard and backyard remains at 2.00 meters while the front yard may increase depending on the road right of way. Meaning the wider the road right of way becomes the greater the area of front yard turn out to be. With respect to high rise building, the greater the height of the building becomes the setback requirement increases by 300 millimeters or 0.30 meters of every floor up to 14th floor. You will observe that the wall of the building becomes like a face of a stairs. But the Architect who will design the building may go directly using the maximum setback requirement for high rise building which will sum up of or a total of 6.20 meters from the property line. The area for setback can be utilized by providing a firewall of two (2) hours fire resistant in the property line without any opening.
The setback requirement is important to apply now a day in designing buildings. This will prevent the spread of fire and to enjoy light and ventilation, good orientation, air space and the right to privacy. This setback must be enforce and implement properly by the competent agency concerned. And the Architect who drew the plans must consider the setback requirement and apply them or incorporate them as part of the design requirement. Otherwise, they are believed to be ignorant of the law and they are not excuse from compliance therewith.
If there will be conflict as to the interpretation of the laws, in the legal parlance, when there are two conflicting laws, concern must be given to the special law. Meaning, the Civil Code is a general law while the National Building Code is a special law, in this case, the building code must prevail over the Civil Code. We have to observe the rule of law, and must enforce them accordingly by the concerned agency, or else, if not implemented by those persons in authority or by the designing architect, then, we rather think about the other law, which is the “Law of karma”.
Transparency
Transparency: work of a good leader
By: Rommel S. Reyes
When people bother you, it is because their souls are trying to get your divine attention and your blessing. –Catherine Ponder
Republic Act 9184 otherwise known as the Government Procurement Reform Act of 2003 is the law that governs the public bidding. Under the law, it directs the Principles of a Sound Public Procurement System, there are at least six mandates in order to have a sound public procurement. These six are the following; one is transparency, this principle allows all interested participants i.e. government agency, private company and the general public to know and understand the processes of awarding government contracts. Under the law, competitive bidding is preferred in all types of government procurement. Next is efficiency, this refers to spending the least in buying what is needed for the government, the other is integrity, this involves rules to ensure that the bidding is within established rules and regulations. Then also competition; this ensures that everyone has an equal opportunity to take part in government transactions. Also the best value and customer satisfaction this is also one of the principles of sound public procurement to ensure that government gets the best value for the taxpayer’s money. And the last one, uniformity this ensures that the law applies to all government purchases and transactions. The bidding for the Integrated Bus Terminal for the City of Zamboanga which was conducted last January 19, 2009 is a bidding that follows the principle of sound public procurement. It was the most transparent public bidding conducted by the City Government of Zamboanga, imagine there are numerous people involved in the conduct of the bidding from the Technical Working Group (TWG) to the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) up to the Design Build Committee (DBC) which composes of people from the cross section of the City. Not only people involved, there are also cameras and video recorded during the conduct of the bidding.
I attended one seminar conducted by the University Center on Local Governance at the Western Mindanao State University with its speaker Dr. Socorro Rebecca B. Felonia on transparency in public procurement and her lectures also discuss about the red flags in the bidding process. She explained, the red flags are the following; (A). Same Contractor/supplier gets the award repeatedly; the explanation here was that there will be suspicions that the Contractor is given special consideration and the possibility of corruption. (B). No Invitation to Bid, she explained that the bidding conducted was not posted invitation to bid in public places, in newspapers of general circulation or in the website of the City. (C). No Bid Bulletin, her explanation was that no bid bulletin posted in public places, newspaper of national circulation or the City website and the contract is awarded to a person. Normally, invitation to bid is published continuously for three consecutive publications. (D). No pre-bidding conference, this is required specially for purchases of 1 M pesos and above for goods, 2M pesos for consulting services and 5 M pesos for infrastructure. And it must be held at least 12 calendar days before the deadline for the submission of bids. (E). No bidders and observers in the opening of bids. If the opening of bids is done privately, there is no transparency and this may make the bidding questionable. (F). No announcement of Award, an announcement tells all bidders who won the bids and how much the contract price is. It allows the bidders to verify “on the spot” whether: respective bids are higher than the lowest bidder; or lowest bidder met the minimum requirements under the law. (G) Award of Contract, meaning, the award of contract to relative or “favored person” of the head of the procuring entity, BAC chair or members, members of the technical working group (TWG), BAC Secretariat, members of the project management office (PMO) and designers of the project. (H). Winning bid substantially too low, the reason here is that a government agency must come up with the approved budget for the contracts that will set the reasonable amount that it can pay for its project; or to reflect the most advantageous price for the government; or to safeguard the quality of the project. (I) Bids accepted after the deadline of bid submission, in some cases, qualified bidders, in the case of procurement of infrastructure and consulting services, are already determined even before the bids are closed. In these situations, acceptance of bids after the deadline of bid submission creates suspicion that the contractor is favored. And lastly, (J) Always shopping, shopping is an alternative mode of procurement used when there is an unforeseen contingency requiring immediate purchase for an amount that shall not exceed fifty thousand pesos (P50, 000) or for procurement of ordinary or regular office supplies and equipment not available in the Procurement Service involving an amount not exceeding two hundred fifty thousand pesos (P250, 000). When a government agency frequently resorts to shopping, it creates suspicion.
If I were to interpret the red flags in public bidding for the Integrated Bus Terminal for the City of Zamboanga, the bidding process did not violate the provisions of the law under Republic Act 9184 the process and the manner brought about in the conduct of public bidding was very much transparent, the problem was that, all the contractors wants to win the bid, but there is only one winner in order to award the project, since there are losers, violent reactions will always come up, but their contention to file the case will not prosper, for the simple reason the bidding process were very much transparent which is a work of a good leader.
By: Rommel S. Reyes
When people bother you, it is because their souls are trying to get your divine attention and your blessing. –Catherine Ponder
Republic Act 9184 otherwise known as the Government Procurement Reform Act of 2003 is the law that governs the public bidding. Under the law, it directs the Principles of a Sound Public Procurement System, there are at least six mandates in order to have a sound public procurement. These six are the following; one is transparency, this principle allows all interested participants i.e. government agency, private company and the general public to know and understand the processes of awarding government contracts. Under the law, competitive bidding is preferred in all types of government procurement. Next is efficiency, this refers to spending the least in buying what is needed for the government, the other is integrity, this involves rules to ensure that the bidding is within established rules and regulations. Then also competition; this ensures that everyone has an equal opportunity to take part in government transactions. Also the best value and customer satisfaction this is also one of the principles of sound public procurement to ensure that government gets the best value for the taxpayer’s money. And the last one, uniformity this ensures that the law applies to all government purchases and transactions. The bidding for the Integrated Bus Terminal for the City of Zamboanga which was conducted last January 19, 2009 is a bidding that follows the principle of sound public procurement. It was the most transparent public bidding conducted by the City Government of Zamboanga, imagine there are numerous people involved in the conduct of the bidding from the Technical Working Group (TWG) to the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) up to the Design Build Committee (DBC) which composes of people from the cross section of the City. Not only people involved, there are also cameras and video recorded during the conduct of the bidding.
I attended one seminar conducted by the University Center on Local Governance at the Western Mindanao State University with its speaker Dr. Socorro Rebecca B. Felonia on transparency in public procurement and her lectures also discuss about the red flags in the bidding process. She explained, the red flags are the following; (A). Same Contractor/supplier gets the award repeatedly; the explanation here was that there will be suspicions that the Contractor is given special consideration and the possibility of corruption. (B). No Invitation to Bid, she explained that the bidding conducted was not posted invitation to bid in public places, in newspapers of general circulation or in the website of the City. (C). No Bid Bulletin, her explanation was that no bid bulletin posted in public places, newspaper of national circulation or the City website and the contract is awarded to a person. Normally, invitation to bid is published continuously for three consecutive publications. (D). No pre-bidding conference, this is required specially for purchases of 1 M pesos and above for goods, 2M pesos for consulting services and 5 M pesos for infrastructure. And it must be held at least 12 calendar days before the deadline for the submission of bids. (E). No bidders and observers in the opening of bids. If the opening of bids is done privately, there is no transparency and this may make the bidding questionable. (F). No announcement of Award, an announcement tells all bidders who won the bids and how much the contract price is. It allows the bidders to verify “on the spot” whether: respective bids are higher than the lowest bidder; or lowest bidder met the minimum requirements under the law. (G) Award of Contract, meaning, the award of contract to relative or “favored person” of the head of the procuring entity, BAC chair or members, members of the technical working group (TWG), BAC Secretariat, members of the project management office (PMO) and designers of the project. (H). Winning bid substantially too low, the reason here is that a government agency must come up with the approved budget for the contracts that will set the reasonable amount that it can pay for its project; or to reflect the most advantageous price for the government; or to safeguard the quality of the project. (I) Bids accepted after the deadline of bid submission, in some cases, qualified bidders, in the case of procurement of infrastructure and consulting services, are already determined even before the bids are closed. In these situations, acceptance of bids after the deadline of bid submission creates suspicion that the contractor is favored. And lastly, (J) Always shopping, shopping is an alternative mode of procurement used when there is an unforeseen contingency requiring immediate purchase for an amount that shall not exceed fifty thousand pesos (P50, 000) or for procurement of ordinary or regular office supplies and equipment not available in the Procurement Service involving an amount not exceeding two hundred fifty thousand pesos (P250, 000). When a government agency frequently resorts to shopping, it creates suspicion.
If I were to interpret the red flags in public bidding for the Integrated Bus Terminal for the City of Zamboanga, the bidding process did not violate the provisions of the law under Republic Act 9184 the process and the manner brought about in the conduct of public bidding was very much transparent, the problem was that, all the contractors wants to win the bid, but there is only one winner in order to award the project, since there are losers, violent reactions will always come up, but their contention to file the case will not prosper, for the simple reason the bidding process were very much transparent which is a work of a good leader.
Zamboanga Architecture
Zamboanga Architecture
By: Rommel S. Reyes
A countryside Zamboangueno child walking and going to school in a rainy day said: El gulud bien malandug . (The hill is too slippery).
During the Spanish Colonial Era, Mindanao and Sulu comprises as one province called the Provincia de Mindanao y Sulu. Under this province there are numbers of municipio, Zamboanga then was one among the municipio together with Tetuan, Sta. Maria, Mercedes, Ayala and Labuan for Zamboanga City, Dapitan is also a municipio and Basilan, Lamitan and Isabela then were a barrio. There are no any structures that exist until now in this places except for the now the City Hall of Zamboanga where in one of its door there were inscription left and the building undergone so many renovation, and the old Tetuan church where a new one was constructed adopting the old character. Maybe if there are old structures in other municipio’s like in ayala, labuan or Mercedes in the City of Zamboanga then this structures can speaks for themselves. But if one will notice, old buildings are located in downtown City which was known then as the municipio de Zamboanga and these were, the fort Pilar, the City Hall, and the Plazas, for residences, it is very difficult to identify.
The question is, is there Zamboanga Architecture? In my personal opinion I believe there is. Architecture is built up by the people themselves, houses to be their shelters, gardens to be their source of livelihood, community to be their place where they can establish laws and regulation for their own common good, these structures that the people built is architecture. As to the character in terms of design they use, apply or exercise, it is more of the mannerism or the way that the people they carry out, like the Roman for the roman arch, the Egypt for their pyramid, the Chinese for their pai lou, the Japanese for the pagoda, the Filipino for our nipa house, the Ifugao for their rice terraces, the muslims for their ogee arch and so many with respect to their practices and believes.
For Zamboanga, most of our upland or countryside folks practice architecture, the construction of houses using indigenous materials, such as the use of woods, the design of the windows, the batalan were the bangga is located, “El Cahida” the balcon where the family used to converge and talks discussing things,”El bolo na dindin” where the blade to cut placed, the raised up floor to pass the air beneath, the location of the baul, the custom and tradition, the believes in the orientation of the door, the steps and so many things. As to the architectural character of the design, ours are more of influence to the Spanish architecture, and I do not see it wrong, most of the European countries were also influenced by the other countries, these were noticeable through colonization.
How about public buildings, this is one factor that affects the Zamboanga Architecture, by history, there were no public servant then, therefore no public building, the church and state works as one, like the alcadia mayor at the same time acts as vice regal patron for the church. This can be substantiate by the presence of the church of each municipio’s during the Spanish colonial era, like the St. Ignatuis de Loyola church in Tetuan, the old church in Sta. Maria, the old church in Mercedes and so with the churches in Labuan and Ayala. These were the structures that by history speak for themselves. At present, the role of the architect is to put things in proper places, satisfy the owners needs, design a shelter to fit the owner wishes and let the building stand to witness by the next generation and let architecture speak for the past.
By: Rommel S. Reyes
A countryside Zamboangueno child walking and going to school in a rainy day said: El gulud bien malandug . (The hill is too slippery).
During the Spanish Colonial Era, Mindanao and Sulu comprises as one province called the Provincia de Mindanao y Sulu. Under this province there are numbers of municipio, Zamboanga then was one among the municipio together with Tetuan, Sta. Maria, Mercedes, Ayala and Labuan for Zamboanga City, Dapitan is also a municipio and Basilan, Lamitan and Isabela then were a barrio. There are no any structures that exist until now in this places except for the now the City Hall of Zamboanga where in one of its door there were inscription left and the building undergone so many renovation, and the old Tetuan church where a new one was constructed adopting the old character. Maybe if there are old structures in other municipio’s like in ayala, labuan or Mercedes in the City of Zamboanga then this structures can speaks for themselves. But if one will notice, old buildings are located in downtown City which was known then as the municipio de Zamboanga and these were, the fort Pilar, the City Hall, and the Plazas, for residences, it is very difficult to identify.
The question is, is there Zamboanga Architecture? In my personal opinion I believe there is. Architecture is built up by the people themselves, houses to be their shelters, gardens to be their source of livelihood, community to be their place where they can establish laws and regulation for their own common good, these structures that the people built is architecture. As to the character in terms of design they use, apply or exercise, it is more of the mannerism or the way that the people they carry out, like the Roman for the roman arch, the Egypt for their pyramid, the Chinese for their pai lou, the Japanese for the pagoda, the Filipino for our nipa house, the Ifugao for their rice terraces, the muslims for their ogee arch and so many with respect to their practices and believes.
For Zamboanga, most of our upland or countryside folks practice architecture, the construction of houses using indigenous materials, such as the use of woods, the design of the windows, the batalan were the bangga is located, “El Cahida” the balcon where the family used to converge and talks discussing things,”El bolo na dindin” where the blade to cut placed, the raised up floor to pass the air beneath, the location of the baul, the custom and tradition, the believes in the orientation of the door, the steps and so many things. As to the architectural character of the design, ours are more of influence to the Spanish architecture, and I do not see it wrong, most of the European countries were also influenced by the other countries, these were noticeable through colonization.
How about public buildings, this is one factor that affects the Zamboanga Architecture, by history, there were no public servant then, therefore no public building, the church and state works as one, like the alcadia mayor at the same time acts as vice regal patron for the church. This can be substantiate by the presence of the church of each municipio’s during the Spanish colonial era, like the St. Ignatuis de Loyola church in Tetuan, the old church in Sta. Maria, the old church in Mercedes and so with the churches in Labuan and Ayala. These were the structures that by history speak for themselves. At present, the role of the architect is to put things in proper places, satisfy the owners needs, design a shelter to fit the owner wishes and let the building stand to witness by the next generation and let architecture speak for the past.
Famous Architects
Famous Architects
By: Rommel S. Reyes
While browsing the internet for my research proposal about Chavacano Architecture, I came across to glance through famous architects; these architects are famous in their respective country and gave their contribution in the changing landscape of their country particularly the City where they established. Like the legend Architect Antonio Gaudi of Spain who introduced curve design. His famous theory was, “Straight line belongs to man and curve lines belongs to God”. He has been identified with the catalan Modernismo movement of the late nineteenth century and, by extension with the international art nouveau style. His strong personality drew like-minded people of talent to him, and the collaboration of structural engineers, sculptors, and metalworkers who were his partner needed to carry out his ideas. It is often possible to identify the artists and engineers involved. His famous works concentrated in Barcelona, Spain, like the Casa Batllo built in 1905 and finished in 1907, Casa Mila 1905-1910, Colonia Guell 1908 – 1915, Park Guell Montana Pelada near Barcelona, 1900 – 1914, and his famous works the Sagrada Familia built in 1882 and finished in 1926. Antonio Gaudi died in 1926.
Another famous Architect is Oscar Niemeyer of Brazil born 1907 and, at the age of 38 he design the famous Pampulha Church in Brazil a whole complex his design concentrated on curves in that design he initially sketches a three arch curves combined then build, at the beginning the design was not accepted but when a new bishop took place, the design became an art. Then his next work was the Alvarada Palace, here again the roof curved, the column curved at that time curved column does not exist. The different forms of these palaces brought some significance to Architecture. In 1956, the President of Brazil commissions him to design Brazil new capital City-Brasilia. In order to appreciate more on his design, one has to move from a distance to view the object entirely. In 2008, one of the Broadcasting Network in Brazil interviewed Oscar Niemeyer his age was 101. Last December 15, 2009 he celebrated his birthday at age at 102 a living legend Architect, he still practice Architecture. In that interview he said and I quote, “when I talk about architecture, I feels like changing the subject, I instead talk about the big question in life and the society’s problem”. At first, I was not able to catch up what he meant by that but on the later part of the interview it was then clear, he refers to the politics and the society.
As the interview goes on, the topic goes about women. He said, “If you talk about women, that’s fine, women are essential, and a beautiful women is amazing”. He further said, “Nothing is prettier than a women’s’ perfect body”. He continues, “We look for the most beautiful shape and sometimes it can be like a women’s body, but, that is not our goal”. And the unbelievable part was shown, a sketch women lying, with her body shape curve taken, translating to the roofing shape of the building. He said, “We want pure form, something different, that fits our calculation, and that gives the architectural project a different feeling”. Oscar Niemeyer works for a museum in Spain; he said referring to the museum, “the dome is the one that he told about, that can built in one day, tell us what it was like, and it was built using an inflatable system. It goes up in a matter of hours. A person could walk by the site when it was empty, and the next day they would see a 40 meters dome”.
As the interview ended, he said, “So, an Architect has to be interested in political issues as well, just like any citizen. Life lasts only a minute”. Then he paused, he continued by saying, “Compare to the universe, we are so small, man is not that important. We have to be simpler; don’t think you are important, because no one is. You just have to be useful”. Then the interview ended.
By: Rommel S. Reyes
While browsing the internet for my research proposal about Chavacano Architecture, I came across to glance through famous architects; these architects are famous in their respective country and gave their contribution in the changing landscape of their country particularly the City where they established. Like the legend Architect Antonio Gaudi of Spain who introduced curve design. His famous theory was, “Straight line belongs to man and curve lines belongs to God”. He has been identified with the catalan Modernismo movement of the late nineteenth century and, by extension with the international art nouveau style. His strong personality drew like-minded people of talent to him, and the collaboration of structural engineers, sculptors, and metalworkers who were his partner needed to carry out his ideas. It is often possible to identify the artists and engineers involved. His famous works concentrated in Barcelona, Spain, like the Casa Batllo built in 1905 and finished in 1907, Casa Mila 1905-1910, Colonia Guell 1908 – 1915, Park Guell Montana Pelada near Barcelona, 1900 – 1914, and his famous works the Sagrada Familia built in 1882 and finished in 1926. Antonio Gaudi died in 1926.
Another famous Architect is Oscar Niemeyer of Brazil born 1907 and, at the age of 38 he design the famous Pampulha Church in Brazil a whole complex his design concentrated on curves in that design he initially sketches a three arch curves combined then build, at the beginning the design was not accepted but when a new bishop took place, the design became an art. Then his next work was the Alvarada Palace, here again the roof curved, the column curved at that time curved column does not exist. The different forms of these palaces brought some significance to Architecture. In 1956, the President of Brazil commissions him to design Brazil new capital City-Brasilia. In order to appreciate more on his design, one has to move from a distance to view the object entirely. In 2008, one of the Broadcasting Network in Brazil interviewed Oscar Niemeyer his age was 101. Last December 15, 2009 he celebrated his birthday at age at 102 a living legend Architect, he still practice Architecture. In that interview he said and I quote, “when I talk about architecture, I feels like changing the subject, I instead talk about the big question in life and the society’s problem”. At first, I was not able to catch up what he meant by that but on the later part of the interview it was then clear, he refers to the politics and the society.
As the interview goes on, the topic goes about women. He said, “If you talk about women, that’s fine, women are essential, and a beautiful women is amazing”. He further said, “Nothing is prettier than a women’s’ perfect body”. He continues, “We look for the most beautiful shape and sometimes it can be like a women’s body, but, that is not our goal”. And the unbelievable part was shown, a sketch women lying, with her body shape curve taken, translating to the roofing shape of the building. He said, “We want pure form, something different, that fits our calculation, and that gives the architectural project a different feeling”. Oscar Niemeyer works for a museum in Spain; he said referring to the museum, “the dome is the one that he told about, that can built in one day, tell us what it was like, and it was built using an inflatable system. It goes up in a matter of hours. A person could walk by the site when it was empty, and the next day they would see a 40 meters dome”.
As the interview ended, he said, “So, an Architect has to be interested in political issues as well, just like any citizen. Life lasts only a minute”. Then he paused, he continued by saying, “Compare to the universe, we are so small, man is not that important. We have to be simpler; don’t think you are important, because no one is. You just have to be useful”. Then the interview ended.
The IBT-Zamboanga City
The Integrated Bus Terminal
By: Rommel S. Reyes
A good general not only sees the way to victory: he also knows when victory is impossible. –Polybius
The proposed integrated bus terminal located at Divisoria, Zamboanga City having its prequalification last November of 2008, and followed by a pre bidding conference on December 10, 2008. The opening of bid was held on January 19, 2009 at around one o clock in the afternoon and followed by the deliberation of the presenters. A team of jury also known as the design build committee was called for by the local government last January 14, 2009 to lay down the necessary ground rules for the deliberation. From the team of jury there are about four (4) Architects and four (4) Engineers representing the technical profession while the rest represents the people of the entire cross section of the City, these includes public and civil servants. Zamboanga City mayor Celso Lobregat sat as member of the jury, as the meeting started the mayor inform the members the criteria for the proposed design and build scheme of the bidding. The criteria for judging were breakdown into two, first, was the aesthetic merit and the other one was the technical merit, under the aesthetic merit the item there, where classified into four category like the moderness, representative of Zamboanga architecture, green architecture and other which escape from my mind, while on the technical merit the item there were the functionality, engineering innovation, and others.
There were about thirteen bidders who submitted their intent to bid and only nine were qualified. From nine these were reduced to five and during the opening of bids only three where submitted their bid, from three one where disqualified for non compliance which is now the subject of debate whether or not the award will push through.
What is the issue here? The issue here is about the compliance, there are rules to follow under RA 9184 otherwise known as the Government Procurement Reform Act of 2003. The contractors are bound to submit two envelopes, the first envelope contain the different documents listed under the checklist as provided for by the agency concerned. In the case of the City Government their checklist provided at least twenty one documents in order a contractor to be considered as complying. For a regular bidding there are sixteen documents needed, there from, the City Government added four more documents in order to consider a contractor as complying. The purpose of adding was that, the bidding of the local government was more about the design and build concept, meaning, whoever wins in the bidding as the lowest bid and advantageous to the government is required to produce the building plans which was the added item (numbered as seventeen in the checklist) not only that, he must also produce the value engineering analysis which was also the added item (numbered as eighteen) and for item nineteen the performance specification parameters, if he will present such documents he will make the oral presentation in front of the jury as pre requisite and this oral deliberation numbered as item twenty of the checklist and after that the evaluation of the design build committee which is item twenty one of the checklist, this checklist was given prior to the pre bidding conference, and if he successfully complied all the requirements set forth then the opening of the second envelope will follow. And if found out that he has the lowest calculated bid then he is entitled to be awarded but subject to the recommendation of the Bids and Awards committee who is the overall in charge and the one who oversee the conduct of the bidding. In the bidding of the proposed integrated Bus Terminal the contractor who was disqualified for non compliance failed to present the documents specifically item eighteen and item nineteen, there from he was given the time to submit as a due process and the opportunity to submit motion for reconsideration by submitting the same item eighteen and which is the pre requisite. But things when wrong, the BAC found out that the contractor also failed to submit item nineteen of the checklist which is another ground for his disqualification. Because of that, confusion comes and what the contractor did was to announce or reveal his bid price to the media which is a desperate move and not supposed to do so.
So, who will suffer now? It is the riding public who will suffer, because, the mayor has the discretionary power if he feels that litigation is inevitable and he may award or not to award the project to one of those two contractors who complied the requirements and who spend there time, effort and the money involved just to come up the proposal. With the given time frame of less than two months preparation, these two contractors faithfully submitted their bid and complied the requirement while the non complying contractor cried that the two contractors should be the one to be disqualified for non compliance. The revelation that his bid which is less by about thirty million from the government approved budget for the contract (ABC) should be the one to be awarded to him that is his freedom to speak off, even though he did not explain his proposal to the team of jury. The cry of overprice is beyond only to one’s imagination because on the first place there is no overprice. If I were to give opinion, overprice will only come in when the project cost will exceed the government approved budget for the contract (ABC) not to the project cost of the contractor who bidded the substandard price and did not even present and explain the quality of his work that he arrived at, and also the degree or level of standards to be apply for the project. Meaning, when we buy goods we have to scrutinize the goods check the label and the workmanship and the quality of the materials to be use for the goods, especially when it involves the people’s money.
By: Rommel S. Reyes
A good general not only sees the way to victory: he also knows when victory is impossible. –Polybius
The proposed integrated bus terminal located at Divisoria, Zamboanga City having its prequalification last November of 2008, and followed by a pre bidding conference on December 10, 2008. The opening of bid was held on January 19, 2009 at around one o clock in the afternoon and followed by the deliberation of the presenters. A team of jury also known as the design build committee was called for by the local government last January 14, 2009 to lay down the necessary ground rules for the deliberation. From the team of jury there are about four (4) Architects and four (4) Engineers representing the technical profession while the rest represents the people of the entire cross section of the City, these includes public and civil servants. Zamboanga City mayor Celso Lobregat sat as member of the jury, as the meeting started the mayor inform the members the criteria for the proposed design and build scheme of the bidding. The criteria for judging were breakdown into two, first, was the aesthetic merit and the other one was the technical merit, under the aesthetic merit the item there, where classified into four category like the moderness, representative of Zamboanga architecture, green architecture and other which escape from my mind, while on the technical merit the item there were the functionality, engineering innovation, and others.
There were about thirteen bidders who submitted their intent to bid and only nine were qualified. From nine these were reduced to five and during the opening of bids only three where submitted their bid, from three one where disqualified for non compliance which is now the subject of debate whether or not the award will push through.
What is the issue here? The issue here is about the compliance, there are rules to follow under RA 9184 otherwise known as the Government Procurement Reform Act of 2003. The contractors are bound to submit two envelopes, the first envelope contain the different documents listed under the checklist as provided for by the agency concerned. In the case of the City Government their checklist provided at least twenty one documents in order a contractor to be considered as complying. For a regular bidding there are sixteen documents needed, there from, the City Government added four more documents in order to consider a contractor as complying. The purpose of adding was that, the bidding of the local government was more about the design and build concept, meaning, whoever wins in the bidding as the lowest bid and advantageous to the government is required to produce the building plans which was the added item (numbered as seventeen in the checklist) not only that, he must also produce the value engineering analysis which was also the added item (numbered as eighteen) and for item nineteen the performance specification parameters, if he will present such documents he will make the oral presentation in front of the jury as pre requisite and this oral deliberation numbered as item twenty of the checklist and after that the evaluation of the design build committee which is item twenty one of the checklist, this checklist was given prior to the pre bidding conference, and if he successfully complied all the requirements set forth then the opening of the second envelope will follow. And if found out that he has the lowest calculated bid then he is entitled to be awarded but subject to the recommendation of the Bids and Awards committee who is the overall in charge and the one who oversee the conduct of the bidding. In the bidding of the proposed integrated Bus Terminal the contractor who was disqualified for non compliance failed to present the documents specifically item eighteen and item nineteen, there from he was given the time to submit as a due process and the opportunity to submit motion for reconsideration by submitting the same item eighteen and which is the pre requisite. But things when wrong, the BAC found out that the contractor also failed to submit item nineteen of the checklist which is another ground for his disqualification. Because of that, confusion comes and what the contractor did was to announce or reveal his bid price to the media which is a desperate move and not supposed to do so.
So, who will suffer now? It is the riding public who will suffer, because, the mayor has the discretionary power if he feels that litigation is inevitable and he may award or not to award the project to one of those two contractors who complied the requirements and who spend there time, effort and the money involved just to come up the proposal. With the given time frame of less than two months preparation, these two contractors faithfully submitted their bid and complied the requirement while the non complying contractor cried that the two contractors should be the one to be disqualified for non compliance. The revelation that his bid which is less by about thirty million from the government approved budget for the contract (ABC) should be the one to be awarded to him that is his freedom to speak off, even though he did not explain his proposal to the team of jury. The cry of overprice is beyond only to one’s imagination because on the first place there is no overprice. If I were to give opinion, overprice will only come in when the project cost will exceed the government approved budget for the contract (ABC) not to the project cost of the contractor who bidded the substandard price and did not even present and explain the quality of his work that he arrived at, and also the degree or level of standards to be apply for the project. Meaning, when we buy goods we have to scrutinize the goods check the label and the workmanship and the quality of the materials to be use for the goods, especially when it involves the people’s money.
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