Ducky Paredes

“The unabated construction of buildings in Boracay, whether it is a new construction project or mere expansion of old projects, is a clear proof of the failure of the local government to enforce its own resolution on moratorium.”

by Ducky Paredes

 

One has to be glad that Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Lito Atienza actually cares enough about the environment. What proves this is that he filed a case with the Ombudsman against Mayor Ciceron Cawaling of Malay, Aklan province for not stopping construction activities on the Boracay Island despite a moratorium order issued by the local government.

“The unabated construction of buildings in Boracay, whether it is a new construction project or mere expansion of old projects, is a clear proof of the failure of the local government to enforce its own resolution on moratorium,” says Atienza.

The small-town mayor tried to pull a fast one on Lito Atienza, who is a former Manila Mayor. Cawaling paid a courtesy call on Atienza last January to inform him of Resolution No. 042, which the Malay Sangguniang Bayan had issued, imposing a construction moratorium that would be effective from Jan. 2 to July 2, 2008.

Cawaling and Atienza agreed at that meeting to apply the moratorium to all ongoing construction activities that have been issued permits by the local government in the past until such time as the Boracay Environment Master Plan being drafted by the DENR had been approved.

Atienza would have filed the charges against Cawaling earlier, except that Cawaling paid that visit to the DENR chief. He pledged to Lito that he would stop all construction activities on Boracay. Yet, on a visit to Boracay, Atienza found that among the construction activities still ongoing on Boracay are those being Ambassador Hotel in Paradise Resort, Crown Regency Hotel, Boracay Regency Lagoon, BTR Hotel, KCI Ariham, Crown Regency Prince Hotel, Teodora Biggiogero KCI, Erus Suite Hotel, and Salic B. Ibrahim Hotel.

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 Why, despite the fact that electronics is one of our main export products and so many IT companies have been here for so long, is the Philippines not regarded as a serious player in this field.

I eavesdropped on nerd-talk and realized that the Philippines has a number of silicon vendors that, besides doing assembly work in this country, have also established low-key design houses. Lexmark has a high tech laboratory facility in Cebu that does more than manufacturing. So does Intel, which is soon moving to Vietnam.

One of the problems that we have with design, where all IT production begins is that the main IC CAD tools provider have no presence here.

There is no significant tie up between these companies and the local universities. Our graduates have no skills with respect to these tools on graduation.

This is the opposite of the situation in India, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and China; thus, making the Philippine engineer vulnerable in respect to using such tools.

Companies hire design engineers and train them with their proprietary technology to do design work. Engineers are not classified “Design Engineers” unless they have done actual design using these tools in college. An engineer can’t do an actual design work without using these tools.

Design engineers are proficient with IC design tools after graduation. BSEE students should have at least two years of direct exposure to these tools before graduation.

This is not the case in the Philippines. Two years exposure to actual design work can’t be replaced with none. Companies won’t hire engineers who have to be trained for six months to a year to be able to do design. The product life cycle for semiconductors is very short. Engineers (new graduates) are expected to hit the road running.

Our university curriculum must be updated to incorporate actual design work.

Here is what The Economist notes about one of our neighbors: “Noting that higher education and scientific innovation were the keys to riches for Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, Vietnam is wooing foreign high-tech firms and inviting rich countries to set up universities and training facilities on its soil. An Australian university, the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, has already opened state-of-the-art campuses in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. A German university and several South Koreans technical colleges are planned.”

Still, there are companies that are investing and even expanding in the Philippines such as Rolm LSI, Bitmicro, Citech, Sanyo semiconductor and Tsukiden, Sunpower, MD Circuit, Pullax, Linearworks, Panasonic, Celestica Cebu, Yellowasp, Astec Power, Artesyn, Lear, Lexmark, On semiconductor, NXP, Cypress, Amkor Anam and so on.

This proves that, with training, we have the skills and ability to excel and deliver. But, imagine, if this were done at the university level as in China, India, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and, now, also Indonesia.

Then, there is politics.

The government needs to realize is that there is huge potential in the country, as epitomized by the handful of design works here. Engineering, more than politics, is the key to modernizing this country. What is needed to push the semiconductor industry’s development in the country include more open government policies and a supportive environment.

For one thing, our engineering board exam ought to include modern concepts of IT and IC design. Ask any engineer what questions are on he board exam and you will realize that those who write the engineering board exam are still living in the last century.

The way to go for engineering schools is into industry-research tie-ups where academic projects are conducted in partnership with industry players. This is a symbiotic relationship; it helps academe gain access to the latest tools as provided by the chip design houses while, at the same time, companies can look up potential partners in research (facilitating long-term partnerships and continuous design innovation), as well as future employees from the school’s graduates.

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Ed Tipton sent me a text from Wyoming that Henry Canoy died at age 84 last Saturday morning, our time. The Canoys were pioneers in radio in Mindanao.

I worked with Radio Mindanao Network on DZXL radio after the Cory administration. Henry was kind, generous and God-fearing, a true Christian gentleman. I extend my condolence to those he left behind. The message asked for prayers.

We need those more than Henry does; but, of course, I prayed for him still. I truly admired and liked the man and am sorry to realize that he has gone.

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hvp 05.18.08)

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