The United Architects of the Philippines (UAP) or the Integrated and Accredited Professional Organization of Architects (IAPOA), is the professional organization for

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

s in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. UAP offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to support the

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

profession in the country and improve its public image. Its headquarters is located in

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; fil, Lungsod Quezon ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read in Filipino as Kyusi), is the List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a populatio ...

History

The United Architects of the Philippines was formed through the merger of three architectural organization in the Philippines in 1975. These were the League of Philippine Architects (LPA), the Association of Philippine Government Architects (APGA), and the

Philippine Institute of Architects The Philippine Institute of Architects (PIA) is an architectural society in the Philippines and is the oldest architectural society in Asia. It is composed of noble men and women from the architectural profession of the Philippines. It was found ...

(PIA). Upon its registration on May 19, 1975, it became the first duly-accredited professional organization in the country. After the passage of Republic Act 9266, or the Architecture Act of 2004, UAP applied as the Integrated and Accredited Professional Organization of Architects (IAPOA) to the

Professional Regulation Commission The Professional Regulation Commission, ( fil, Komisyon sa Regulasyon ng mga Propesyon) otherwise known as the PRC, is a three-man commission attached to Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). Its mandate is to regulate and supervise the pr ...

on May 19, 2014.

United Architects of the Philippines Student Auxiliary

The United Architects of the Philippines Student Auxiliary (UAPSA) was established in 1989 as the junior partner of UAP. It is the official student organization of UAP and has 94 member schools with over 16,000 members.

Conflict between architects and civil engineers in the Philippines

At the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in 1945, there were approximately 300 architects and 1,800 civil engineers in the Philippines who were tasked to help rebuild the war-ravaged country. Both professions practiced under one law before June 1950, when Congress passed two laws which distinguished the works of the civil engineers from the architects. Further amendments were made in 1956 to further distinguish the two professions. From 1950s-1970s, civil engineers who desired to practice architecture in the country must take up an architecture degree and pass the licensure examination for architects. In February 1977, President

Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. ( , , ; September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino politician, lawyer, dictator, and kleptocrat who was the 10th president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled under martial ...

signed into law PD 1096, the National Building Code of the Philippines; there was nothing stated in Section 302 of the said law about signing architectural documents or which state-regulated professional shall sign and seal such documents. However, in some versions of the implementing rules and regulations of PD 1096, Section 302 appeared to state that civil engineers can sign and seal architectural documents, which is an act of illegal intercalation of or insertion into the text of Section 302. The United Architects of the Philippines, along with a House of Representative member who happens to be an architect, Rupert Gaite, led a massive campaign to fully disseminate public information on the practice of architecture in the Philippines. In 2003, UAP entered an agreement with the

Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers The Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers or PICE is a professional organization for civil engineers in the Philippines. It was formed by merging two separate organizations of civil engineers: one group working from government sector and the se ...

(PICE) to support each other's legislative initiative and to finally fully segregate the two practices of architects and civil engineers. The architects were to give up structural design while the civil engineers will give up architectural design. In 2004, Republic Act No. 9266 (RA 9266) was passed. It was known as the Architecture Act of 2004. It states that the architects shall be the sole professionals with the exclusive privilege to prepare, sign and seal architectural documents. PICE contested the decision and filed a bill in Congress seeking to make civil engineers the prime professional for buildings; some architects contested this filing by actively engaging civil engineers in print media to distinguish the two professional practices. In 2005, the AAIF led the architects in defeating the 2004 bill filed by civil engineers in the Congress. The

Department of Public Works and Highways The Department of Public Works and Highways ( fil, Kagawaran ng mga Pagawain at Lansangang Bayan}), abbreviated as DPWH, is the executive department of the Philippine government solely vested with the Mandate to “be the State's engineering ...

(DPWH) published thrice the 2004 Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of PD 1096, the 1977 National Building Code, which states that only architects shall sign and seal architectural documents. PICE then sued the Secretary of DPWH over the matter, and UAP intervened with the case, which is now pending in the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

. In 2007, the newly reconstituted Professional Regulatory Board of Architecture (PRBoA) commenced its active campaign against the perceived illegal practitioners of the architecture profession in the Philippines, including the civil engineers. PICE countered by suing the PRBoA Acting Chair in civil court. The Regional Trial Court of Manila favored with the architects in 2009 in the 2005 case filed by PICE against the DPWH Secretary, with UAP as the intervenor. PRBoA then fled 2 complaints at the Office of the Ombudsman (already consolidated) vs. the DPWH Secretary, 1 Senior DPWH Under Secretary, 1 DPWH Under Secretary, PICE and the publisher of a popular commercial (but intercalated) version of P.D. No. 1096 and its 2004 Revised IRR. In 2010, the PICE again sued the PRBoA Acting Chair at the Office of the Ombudsman, which was already twice dismissed by the Office of the Ombudsman. In January 2012, the Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the PICE in the 2005 case it filed vs. the DPWH Secretary, with the UAP as Intervenor; UAP appealed the decision at the Supreme Court. In 2014 and 2015, Congress started hearing the new bills filed by both the architects and civil engineers. Based on the initial reading of the bills, the architects mainly seek to restore the portions of architectural practice (including limited structural design) lost through past legislation and to define the practice consistent with worldwide practices. The suspended implementation of RA 9266 was deplored by the former President of the Philippine Senate,

Aquilino Pimentel Jr. Aquilino Quilinging Pimentel Jr. (, December 11, 1933 – October 20, 2019), commonly known as Nene Pimentel, was a Filipino politician and human rights lawyer who was one of the leading political opposition leaders during the regime of Ferdinan ...

, who states that it hampers effort to build public structures that is distinctly Filipino.

Notable members

Daniel Go Daniel Go (born March 23, 1966) is a Filipino architect of Chinese descent. Go founded Daniel C. Go Architecture Design, and ADGO Architecture and Design Inc., and is its principal architect. His buildings include the CCF Center in Pasig, and B ...

: Architect of the CCF Center in Pasig and the

BTTC Centre BTTC Centre is a Class A 12-story green building located at Ortigas Avenue corner Roosevelt Avenue, Greenhills, San Juan, Metro Manila, Philippines. It is the first green building in Greenhills, San Juan to receive a Gold pre-certification for Co ...

in San Juan. * Francisco "Bobby" T. Mañosa: Pioneer of the Philippine neovernacular architecture and a

National Artist of the Philippines The Order of National Artists of the Philippines (Filipino: ''Orden ng mga Pambansang Alagad ng Sining ng Pilipinas'') is an order bestowed by the Philippines on Filipinos who have made significant contributions to the development of Philippin ...

. *

Ildefonso P. Santos Jr. Ildefonso Paez Santos Jr. (September 5, 1929 – January 29, 2014), popularly known simply as "IP Santos", was a Filipino architect who was known for being the "Father of Philippine Landscape Architecture." He was recognized as a National Artis ...

: Known as the Father of Philippine Landscape Architecture. * Royal Pineda: Architect of the

New Clark City Sports Hub The New Clark City Sports Hub or the New Clark City Sports Complex (initially known as the Philippine Sports City or Philippine Olympic City) is a complex of sports facilities located inside the National Government Administrative Center of New ...

References

External links