CREATING THE OFFICE OF THE LOCAL BUILDING OFFICIAL: Sen. Bongbong Marcos, chair of the Senate Committee on Local Government, presides over a public hearing on Senate Bill No. 2235, which proposes the creation of the Office of the Local Building Official (LBOs) at the provincial, city and municipal levels. According to Marcos, provincial, city and municipal engineers perform dual roles as local engineers and building officials in their respective areas. “The additional duties imposed by the National Building Code of the Philippines (NBCP) can be overwhelming for local engineers constrained by manpower and resources, and Congress should create a separate LBO to distribute the equally important responsibilities mandated to the local engineers under the National Building Code,” he said. (PRIB Photo by Albert Calvelo/12 August 2014)