Brief history[edit]

In the late 1920s, group of civil engineers from the government sector formed the Philippine
Society of Civil Engineers (PSCE) which was the first civil engineering organization in the
Philippines with Engr. Marcial Kasilag as its first president.[1][3]
In 1937, the Philippine Association of Civil Engineers (PACE) was formed. This time, it was a
group of civil engineers in the private sector with Engr. Enrique Sto. Tomas Cortes as its first
president.[1]
The objectives of both organizations were similar with each other in which both of them wants to:
"elevate the standards of the profession, encourage research and engineering knowledge and
technology, foster fellowship among members, and promote interrelation with other technological
and scientific societies".
The PACE being the most active than the PSCE led to the transfer of many PSCE members
to PACE. In 1950, Republic Act No. 544 (also known as the "Civil Engineering Law") was passed
through the efforts of PACEPresident Alberto Guevarra.[4]
In 1972, PACE President Engr. Cesar A. Caliwara, exerted a serious effort in merging the two
organization. Leaders of PACE and PSCE negotiated, and talked about the choice of name. Some
concerns were raised such as formal accounting and turnover of assets and liabilities, accreditation
of bonafide members and election rules for the first officers which were sooner resolved. These gave
birth to the Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers Inc. and on December 11, 1973, the Securities
and Exchange Commission issued a registration certificate to the association.
On February 1974, the first election of officers was held and Engr. Cesar Caliwara became its first
president. In order to truly unite the civil engineers of the Philippines, provincial chapters were
organized. In August 13, 1975, the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) recognized
the PICE as the only official organization of civil engineers in the Philippines.

Present time[edit]
On November 5, 2014, Philippine President Benigno Aquino III issued a declaration by virtue of
Proclamation No. 904 signed by Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa Jr. and has declared the
month of November of every year as Civil Engineering Month[5] to bring to the attention and
concsciousness of the Filipino people the importance of the civil engineers in nation building.[6][7]
As of year 2019, PICE has more than 90,578 registered civil engineer-members in 105 chapters and
some 12632 civil engineering student-members in 210 student chapters throughout the country.[6][7]

Legal issues[edit]
In 2003. The United Architects of the Philippines (UAP) and PICE signed a joint resolution
supporting the passage of Architecture and Civil Engineering bills delineating their respective scope
of practice and to strengthen their collaborative efforts in common goals.[8]
The two professional groups through their leaders stressed the need for the immediate passage of
their respective bills, which would benefit their hundreds of thousand members nationwide.
In 2004, the Architecture Act was passed and signed into law. But in 2005, a petition for declaratory
relief filed on May 3, 2005 by the PICE and Engr. Leo Cleto Gamolo to declare null and void
Sections 302.3 and 302.4 of the Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (“Revised IRR”)
of Presidential Decree No. 1096 (the “National Building Code”). The said provisions require that
architectural documents submitted in applications for building permits must be prepared, signed and
sealed by architects. PICE claim that the said sections of the Revised IRR, by effectively prohibiting
Civil Engineers from also preparing, signing and sealing architectural documents, are contrary to the
National Building Code and the Republic Act No. 544 (the “Civil Engineering Law”), which
purportedly gave Civil Engineers the said right. After several court hearings at the Manila Regional
Trial Court, the PICE's motion was denied and the RTC ruled in favor of the architects. This issue
was brought by the PICE to the Court of Appeals.[9]
In January 5, 2012, the Court of Appeals, in its decision granted the appeal of PICE and reversed
the Decision of the Regional Trial Court thus giving the Civil Engineers the rights from preparing,
signing and sealing architectural documents[10]

Chapters[edit]
Regular chapter[edit]
The general membership of the institute, except for the honorary and student members, was
organized into autonomous chapters composed of members residing or having principal sites of
business in the area to be served by the chapter. The regular chapters are formed for the purpose
of:

 Fostering closer association among members in an area or locality;

 Encouraging the members to prepare and discuss papers on the study of civil engineering
problems in that area or locality; and
 Encouraging the cooperation with other allied engineering, technical or scientific groups in the
area or locality in matters of common interest.
Student chapter[edit]
The institute supports the formation of student chapters in engineering Institutions in order to:

 Encourage civil engineering students to work together in fellowship and dedication to Science
and Technology;
 Enhance and improve civil engineering standards, curricula and facilities in schools;
 Provide encouragement, guidance and leadership to civil engineering students; and
 Promote association of civil engineering students with the members of the civil engineering
profession.
The regular chapters are tasked to supervise all student chapters organized in their areas and aid
them in their undertakings.

International chapter[edit]
Upon the approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to the amended By-laws
(November 25, 1999), the formation of international chapters was made possible. The chapters,
which are based on other countries, is a manifestation of the institute's commitment to reach-out to
Filipino civil engineers around the world and to establish a more concrete point of union for Filipino
civil engineers.

 PICE Saudi Arabia-Eastern Province

 PICE Saudi Arabia-Riyadh Region Chapter
 PICE Qatar Chapter
 PICE Oman Chapter
 PICE Singapore Chapter
 PICE Bahrain Chapter
 PICE UAE Chapter
 PICE Saudi Arabia-Western Region
 PICE Kuwait Chapter
 PICE Brunei Chapter
 PICE USA Chapter
 PICE South Korea Chapter
Affiliate societies[edit]
 Association of Structural Engineers of the Philippines (ASEP)
 Association of Accredited Consultant CE of the Philippines (AACCEP)
 Association of Civil Engineering Educators of the Philippines (ACEEP)
 City and Municipal Engineers Association of the Philippines (CMEAP)
 District Engineers League of the Philippines (DELP)
 Philippine Association of Building Officials (PABO)
 Provincial Engineers Association of the Philippines (PEAP)
 Road Engineering Association of the Philippines (REAP)

Notable members[edit]
 Fidel V. Ramos - Honorary member - popularly known as FVR, was the 12th President of the
Philippines from 1992 to 1998. He graduated from the United States Military Academy with
Bachelor of Science in University of Illinois with master's degree in civil engineering.
 Angel R. Lazaro, Jr. - Past President (1968) - he topped the CE board examination in 1938 and
also topped the board examination for Architects in 1958. He is well known for the restoration of
seven (7) 400-year-old national heritage churches located in various parts of the Philippines,
rural and public markets either privately or government owned, urban health and nutrition
projects of the Department of Health.
 Angel A. Lazaro, III - Past President (1983) - He is the receiver of Certificates of Recognition as
Structural Engineer and Civil Engineering Educator from the Board of Civil Engineering. He was
acknowledged as the Most Outstanding Civil Engineer Award from the Professional Regulation
Commission in 1994. He is also Past President of the Confederation of Filipino Consulting
Organizations (COFILCO), National Society for Seismology and Earthquake Engineering of the
Philippines (NSSEEP), Philippine Federation of Professional Associations (PFPA), Road
Engineering Association of the Philippines (REAP), Philippine Association for Technological
Education (PATE), American Concrete Institute, Philippine Chapter (ACI-RP) and Council of
Filipino Consultants (COFIC)
 David M. Consunji - Past President (1989–1990) - he is the Chairman of publicly listed holding
firm, DMCI Holdings, Incorporated. A former Secretary of the Department of Public Works,
Transportation and Communications. In 2010, Forbes listed him as the 12th richest Filipino with
a net worth of US$715 million.[11]
 Felipe F. Cruz - Past President (1997–1998) - he is a TOFIL Awardee for General Construction
in 2007. His notable projects are some of the country’s most efficient industrial plants, such as:
the Tongonan 1, 2, & 3 Geothermal Power Plant in Leyte, the San Roque Hydroelectric Plant in
Pangasinan, and the Tiwi 1&2 Geothermal Power Plant in Albay