(L-R) NEDA Usec. Jose Miguel De La Rosa, DAP President and CEO Engelbert Caronan, Jr., and DCTC President and General Manager Placido Dumduma are shown during the signing ceremony last December 27 at the DAP Building in Pasig City. (Photo by Ped Garcia)

The Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP) signed an agreement with Dumduma Construction and Trading Corporation (DCTC) for the construction of a new training building (NTB) in its Tagaytay City facility.  The contract signing ceremony between DAP President and CEO Engelbert Caronan, Jr. and DCTC President and General Manager Placido Dumduma on December 27, 2019 at the DAP Building in Pasig City was witnessed by National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Undersecretary Jose Miguel De La Rosa, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Assistant Secretary for Local Government Units Concerns Jesus Enrico Moises Salazar, DAP Senior Vice President for Services Bernardo Dizon, DAP Conference Center Vice President and Managing Director Ermarie Mondejar, DCTC Area Project Manager William Diaz, and DCTC Operations Manager Rafael Julius Balan.

The DAP Board of Trustees, through Board Resolution No. 2017-21, approved the multi-year implementation of the physical expansion plan of the DAP Conference Center in Tagaytay City with a 14-storey NTB that offers accommodations for live-in training participants.

The NTB is an infrastructure component of the National Government’s mandate to strengthen the capacity of the DAP to provide both general and highly specialized training courses for government officials.

President Caronan expressed elation as the construction of the NTB coincides with the plan to transform the DAP. “We have a grand plan to digitize the DAP and to prepare the institution for the future,” he said as he mentioned the plans to create data analytics and future centers in the Academy.  He also stressed that the NTB represents the trust of the government on the DAP.

Meanwhile, Usec. De La Rosa congratulated the hardworking DAP family and said that the construction of the NTB is a dream come true for the Academy. “I’m sure you have this goal to elevate the DAP as the center for learning for government functionaries,” he added.

DENR Asec. Salazar, on the other hand, expressed his gratitude to be part of the team that facilitated the approval of the project. “We are going to see the building that the DAP deserves to have,” he said emphasizing that the NTB can be dedicated to the commitment of the men and women of the Academy and its clientele.

The project is divided into two phases, with a total estimated amount of PhP1.5 billion. The signing ceremony awarded the first phase of construction to DCTC and the second phase will include the Design Fit-outs Furniture and Fixtures once the construction of the building is finished. The whole project is to be completed in 2022, in time for the 50th Anniversary of the Academy in 2023. – Jeannalla Burns