BAGONG SIBOL, BAGUMBAYAN

INSPIRATIONAL MESSAGE

Arch. Romeo Camacho, UAP, AIA-IA – Chapter President and former

colleague in the academe and the American Institute of Architects

Arch. Roger Victorino, UAP – District Director, Regional District A5

Distinguish guests, sponsors, members, ladies and gentlemen of the

profession, your family and friends, good afternoon.

It is an honor to have been invited as the guest of honor for this Induction of
new members of the UAP Bagumbayan Chapter.

Today marks the 2nd year ng pagsibol ng UAP Bagumbayan chapter, with
the new addition to your membership of this noble profession, the newest
member of men and women in architecture. Your oath of membership had
been successfully administered, having cloth with authority to make you
legitimate UAP Bagumbayan chapter members. I want to remind the newly
inducted members and the old members that being in the organization
carries with you the responsibility to stand not only to protect the
organization but, above all, you must protect the profession.

My question to you, my dear colleagues, is, supposed there is a conflict

between your duty to the organization and duty to the profession, to whom
are you going to choose to uphold?

I want to leave that answer to your conscience.

Architecture is a unique profession compared to other allied disciplines.

That is why some other professionals are very much interested in practicing
ours. While they also want to practice their own simultaneously, they never
knew our sufferings that our professors who may have caused us “post-
traumatic stress disorder” when giving us design plates together with other
assignments in building construction and technology, section detailing of
the pyramid of Egypt, the Parthenon, the collesium in Rome and many more.
I believed that all of this imparts a good foundation when reviewing for the
licensure examination and in the passing of taking your test.

In passing the licensure examination, it is now the time for you to thank your
family, your relatives, your friends, your loved ones, and even your
romantic partner who sacrifices and support for your education. Apologize
for the heartaches you had caused them to not socialize because of your
demanding ambition “to become an architect”. They are your biggest fans,
and they deserve to share with you in this triumph.

I want you now to realize that ordinary people can achieve their ambition if
they have perseverance and determination. In my case, I was so lucky that I
had mentored in the proper direction towards good ethics and
professionalism.

Today, our profession is in the challenge of survival, not to mention

specifically those people illegally practicing our profession with the help of
those architects and engineers who are aiding them or abetting them in the
illegal practice of architecture. I am appealing to all of you to stop this
unethical notion that once you sign and seal a non-registered person's works,
you acquire responsibility for their works under your charge and
supervision. The answer is not; it is within the context of a profession's
malpractice and must end immediately. Do not be a prostitute of the
profession. Do not let our profession be used by other professionals who
have no expertise in architecture, not even to use you as their slaves. We are
the prime professionals rather than them.

Take note that only architects have the proper training in the design of any
structures because we are the only profession who acquired such instruction
during our academic years, to mention a few, engineers have nothing the
following subject in their curriculum to wit: Physical land use and planning,
environmental planning, urban and regional planning, utilization and
programming, housing design, interior architecture, community
architecture, tropical design and architectural design of engineering
structures.
If you had been assessed carefully, the architecture curriculum covers some
of the subjects in engineering, such as reinforced concrete design, steel
design, the theory of structures, stress diagrams, soil mechanics, seismic
analysis, and design application. Mechanical, electrical, plumbing and
sanitary and utilities systems and equipment include architectural lighting
and acoustics.

All that I have mentioned have been studied in our course as part of our
curriculum that is in reciprocal not included with other professions. With all
of that I have mentioned, It is only proper to say that Architects are the prime
professionals in the design, the administration, and supervision of any
building or structures. It is only the law, that limits our practice in all of this
engineering works, giving respect and delineating what belongs to them but
in totality, is within the realm of the architectural programming and
practice.

Architecture is the beginning, and it does not end with engineering. Any
building structure always begins with architecture and ends up to
architecture. It is erroneous to say what others believed that Architecture is
the beginning while engineering is the end. Suppose you have been
completed with your diversified training. In that case, you may have been
realized in your actual practice, architecture ends with the finishing works
and not in engineering, to mention a few, the building structure always ends
with painting works, the landscape, the tile grouting, the arranging of
furniture and other architectural elements. It is not the engineering that ends
prior to the project's turnover to the Client, but again to architecture itself.
When our profession begins with us, it will also end with us.

Nowadays, ethics and professional practice are not among those given
paramount consideration; our academic institutions' training is now
towards passing the licensure examination and not leading to the
profession's true essence of application to the real situation. In recent days,
many of those newly passed architects seek my advice on what to do to start
with their practice of the profession. A question that is supposedly answered
during the academic years of instruction.
The practice of Architecture is not only about design, but the practice of
architecture is also about business development. An architects office will not
be in great success if the architect itself will not engage in business
development. Our issued certificate of registration as our license does not
create a magic that will make you rich overnight upon receiving of the same.
Your office will not accept clients to walk-in independently by only hanging
your professional shingles outside your office; if it does, it is only a bonus. It
must have coupled with some activities like; socializing by joining any clubs
or organization, among others.

As your guest of honor in this afternoon induction ceremony, I wish to leave

this message to the newly inducted members of this organization, your
review to the licensure examination has not yet ended. Upon leaving this
zoom virtual induction, start reviewing your professional practice again,
because dealing with Clients is not only about showing your skills in 3D
rendering, but your skills and talent on how to convince them to agree with
your submitted charges of professional fees. A skill that every Client hates
to hear, while architects has difficulty on how to charge.

Please note that every project proposal's success is always dependent on the
Client satisfaction of the architect's lower fees.

Please make a stand with your standard, do not lower your standard to what
the Client wants them to pay you, your dignity, credibility, and standing in
society will depend on how you will stand firm to your professional practice.
If you start it right, that is a good start till the end, but if you start it wrong,
that is the same attitude that will do till the end of your life in the profession.

To end my message on this event, I advise everyone that we should revisit

our code of ethics, read it with a deeper understanding, and have it to
memorize and absorb with our intelligence to promote more ethics on
ourselves and professionalism to every Client. More so, an architect is a high
minded, not arrogant but faithful, let your name be preserve with dignity.

Thank you, and congratulation!

Arch. Alfredo A. Fernandez, JD (LL.B), PIA, AIA-IA

August 29, 2020