THE BUILDER SPEAKS
33 yrs of counting our blessings
Congratulations to
the great men and women of R-II Builders for helping bring us all to its 33rd year in good corporate
health.
Our corporate family has all the reasons to be thankful.
So far, we have been spared from making the very painful decision of retrenching people as many other companies have done under the weight of the covid-19 pandemic.
Indeed, covid-19 has led to economic contractions worldwide, resulting in massive loss of jobs across all regions. German market and consumer data firm Statista sees a 2020 global loss of 100.8 million jobs in the travel and tourism industry alone, consisting of 63.4 million in the Asia Pacific, 13 million in Europe, 8.2 million in North America, 7.6 million in Africa, 4.7 million in Latin America, 2.6 million in the Middle East, and 1.2 million in the Caribbean.
In the Philippines, some 4.5 million Filipinos have been reported losing their jobs, jacking up the unemployment rate to a 15-year high of 10.4 percent across all sectors.
Thus, many companies are said to have resorted to underemployment by reducing work hours or rotating employees into working for only two weeks monthly if only to avoid retrenchment.
Worst-hit sectors are transportation and storage, manufacturing, accommodation and food services, entertainment, and recreation, all part of the supply and value chain of the construction and real estate industry, which itself is not spared from the adverse effects of the covid pandemic.
In the property development sector where the R-II Group of Companies is also active, the market remains in a slump with house prices in the Philippines registering a mere 1.8 percent rise in 2019-2020 and 5.6 percent in 2020-2021 as shown in a survey of 226 cities by the International Real Estate Federation, or FIABCI, of which we are a member. The slight uptick is downright miniscule compared with the market figures of previous years.
Still, our company managed to keep its business financially unscathed by the pandemic.
Thanks to the steadfast and prompt action of our management executives, office staff, field officers, and the rest of the workforce. Disruptions in our business operations were kept minimal as timely measures have been put in place.
Covid testing was immediately implemented to ensure health and safety at the workplace. Tactical adjustments in operating protocols were made to ensure meeting our project deadlines.
And as a result, we have completed two projects even ahead of schedule, kept us on track in three others, and won five bids as the pandemic raged on.
Thus, at present, we are able to have all our employees vaccinated at company expense.
Again, kudos to our management executives and our entire workforce. Not even a deadly pandemic can distract us from our corporate philosophy of building better lives in the context of a sustainable and human-centric development.
Nonetheless, the covid crisis is teaching us to NOT to rely solely on pure instincts, which can be prone to oversight, human lapses and errors.
The covid-19, in fact, is an eye opener that necessitates the creation of a business continuity management system, or BCM, which can automatically take its course even at the earliest signs of crisis situations, and thus fully avert any unmanageable disruption in our operations.
The BCM must include periodic vulnerability assessment of our critical infrastructure, identify weak points and strongly bridge all possible operating gaps.
Specifically, the system must be formulated into a manual of protocols that details the step-by-step procedures in addressing every conceivable emergency situation such as pandemic, fire, flood, storm, earthquake, riot, or even war.
The objective is to save, not just the business or the jobs of our employees, but also our role in helping shape the economic well-being of our nation and the rest of humanity.
As you may know, the construction sector accounts for a big chunk of our country’s total economy and national employment.
Government figures showed the construction industry contributing 8.7 percent or 3.826 million jobs to total national employment in the first quarter of 2018 alone.
At the same time, construction’s share in the GDP was 6.5 percent or P293.7 billion in the first semester of that year. And during that period, total construction investments amounted to almost P1.4 trillion, according to the Construction Industry Authority of the Philippines.
Then came covid in 2019, whose impact resulted in delays and cancellations of construction projects, with many employees getting displaced or permanently losing their jobs.
Fortunately, it was not the case for R-II Builders. Our long-held tradition of standing our ground even during crises but skillfully and willfully adapting to the situation always paid off.
It was somehow reminiscent of the situation 33 years ago, in 1988, when many left, not just the construction industry, but the country altogether, to escape a looming economic collapse.
Ironically, your chairman did not only stubbornly stay put, but even set up his own construction company that started out as a one-room affair on September 8, 1988.
Since then, R-II Builders has steadfastly plodded on, adhering tenaciously to its social commitment and staying true to its corporate philosophy and vision even while the company grew vertically and horizontally to become a widely diversified conglomerate. Thus, the rest is history.
Now, with so much blessings to count in successfully keeping all our people employed also comes the responsibility to deserve God’s grace and serve its purpose.
Undoubtedly, we are all here for something more than just to earn our keep. So, let’s count our blessings and strive to deserve it.
