EEI Corporation: Celebrating 92 years of moving together  

The history of the Philippines is one that is rife with changes and shifts, both seismic and subtle, all impacting lives in one way or another.

The COVID-19 pandemic, for one, has altered lives and societies. It has seen us emerge into a brand-new world. Companies, for example, have been through the fire, with some enduring the test, while many withering away.

Despite the changes and shifts, not only in recent years, but for the past nine decades, EEI Corporation has not only endured but has thrived in an especially competitive and volatile construction industry.

This April, the company is celebrating 92 bountiful years in the industry with the theme “Sama-sama sa Pagsulong (Moving Forward Together),” a nod to its resilience in the face of a global pandemic of an unprecedented scale and impact.

Standing the test of time

For 92 years and with over 27,000 employees, EEI Corporation has managed to stand the test of time, with each adversity a learning opportunity that makes the company more resilient, more attuned to a fast-changing world.

More recently with the pandemic, the company has learned the value of interdependence—interdependence between and among societies and its stakeholders.

Through this lesson, EEI made sure each of its employees was given adequate support during the thick of the pandemic through providing everyone with full salaries in the beginning when work could not even proceed, through the sourcing of vaccines and PPEs, building of quarantine facilities, and providing housing for those who are unable to go home.

As the company shifts its gaze towards recovery, it recognizes that despite the pandemic being much less of a concern than it was in the past years, new challenges have arisen, from an unstable geo-political environment with the Russia-Ukraine war and tensions between China and Taiwan, to the constant threat of recession and inflation.

EEI also continues to see itself contending with soaring prices of inputs, increasing cost of borrowing, higher fuel costs, and the lack of skilled and professional local workers.

Adding to these are many of the challenges brought about by customers balancing future development, the soaring cost of construction materials, and the need to bring shareholder value.

These are the circumstances the construction industry faces, and which EEI Construction intends, as it has always done in the past, to face head on.

Going back to basics

In facing these challenges, EEI is going back to basics: re-examining the way it does things, engaging stakeholders to reassess relationships, and assessing the need for better alignment.

Carrying with it the lessons of recent adversities, EEI all the more recognizes the crucial role that interdependence plays, how it is valuable in stabilizing and transforming ecosystems, while contributing to nation-building.

On more concrete and practical terms, this means forging stronger and closer ties with EEI’s vendors, suppliers, sub-contractors, and workers, finding ways to optimize relationships by bridging differences, increasing transparency, and looking for new ways to work together.

This among others would include empowering people to organize and collaborate as partners with EEI, redesigning framework agreements for vendors and subcontractors, and encouraging mutual engagement and partnership.

Embodying ‘malasakit’

On top of these, EEI emphasizes the importance of embodying malasakit across all ranks, from its executives to its workers. The company believes this is the value on which all the others rest and is the guiding light which has seen the company through the toughest of times.

EEI defines “malasakit” as good corporate governance and social responsibility. It involves insisting on a policy of integrity by example from the top all the way to the laborers, opening its books for transparency, cutting cost, imbibing a culture of productivity, and ingraining a desire to achieve professional prestige—all timeless principles that transform culture and develop high performing teams and a fiscally healthy organization.

Guided by malasakit, these principles support a transformation that goes to the heart of change and of pride in one’s personal achievement.

EEI believes in the need to challenge the way it looks at the industry, how it values its employees, and how it works together with its stakeholders if it were to go beyond 92 years. This is EEI’s response to social responsibility and nation-building which also happens to be its response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Towards nine more decades and beyond

EEI Corporation is recognized as one of the leading construction companies in the Philippines. For 92 years since its inception in 1931, the company has been a major force in infrastructure, buildings, and various light and heavy industries.

It has presence in two continents, supporting various projects across the globe. Years of collaborating with global contractors, particularly in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific countries, has enabled EEI to achieve world-caliber project management expertise and competencies in all fields and disciplines of construction.

The company takes pride in its quadruple-A rating as a general engineering contractor; the highest rating for contractors issued by the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB) under the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). EEI holds ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and ISO 45001 certifications for quality, environmental management, and occupational health and safety standards.

EEI has been recognized by contractors worldwide for the quality of its work and for its safety record. The company stays abreast with the latest developments in technology, materials engineering, and construction methodologies. As such, EEI is a preferred provider of construction services for global engineering, procurement, and construction companies.

As EEI celebrates 92 years in the construction industry, it can only look forward to nine more decades, even more, carrying with it the wisdom that for this goal to be possible, everyone involved in the company must stay true to this year’s anniversary theme, which is to move forward together, sama-sama sa pagsulong.

* * *

Editor’s Note: BrandedUp is designed to provide you with insightful, inspiring and educational content created by PhilSTAR L!fe in collaboration with brands like EEI Corporation.