Meeting as the country’s only accredited and integrated professional organization (AIPO) of real estate service practitioners, the Philippine Institute of Real Estate Service Practitioners (PhilRES) held its first annual assembly last February 28, 2013 at Club Filipino in Greenhills, San Juan.
The assembly had the following guests attending the ceremony: Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) chief Attorney Antonio Bernardo, Pag-IBIG Fund president Atty. Marlene Berberabe, Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) head Teresita Manzala, and Central Bank Deputy Governor Diwa Guingundo.
Likewise present at the event were officers of the real estate company ZipMatch, who talked to members on how to harness the power of information technology. The group gave a presentation on how to maximize the use of the Internet using a lot of photos and digital marketing to improve the presentation of their listings, especially on the ZipMatch website. The group had also set up a table at the entrance to give brokers a chance to sign up with ZipMatch.
PhilRES National President and former Oriental Mindoro congressman Rodolfo Valencia gave the opening remarks by noting the real estate industry’s performance in 2013. Valencia noted that the economic boom of the past years was still being felt and described 2014’s local property market as being in “a good position” and “upbeat” despite the damage incurred by last year’s Typhoon Yolanda.
Moreover, Valencia noted the importance of PhilRES as the country’s only AIPO of real estate service practitioners. He said it will be the task of PhilRES to be the uniting factor among the industry members and different real estate services associations, as well as provide vital services to the entire property sector.
Task Force Acquired Assets Management chief Atty. Digna Magpantay spoke in the absence of Berberabe about Pag-IBIG’s acquired assets. Magpantay said as of December 2013, they’ve been trying to dispose 58,218 accounts of acquired assets worth Php 16.7 billion. However, she said Pag-IBIG was counting on the support of accredited brokers to help sell these properties.
On the other hand, Alma Jimenez, past president of the Philippine Tourism Congress and current chairperson of the CEO Conference for the Management Association of the Philippines, gave a talk about the upcoming Philippine integration with ASEAN in 2015. Jimenez noted that the country’s real industry needs to prepare for integration or else get left behind.
The registered members of PhilRES include real estate brokers, consultants, appraisers, government assessors, and appraisers duly licensed by the PRC. It is the umbrella organization of the practitioner groups as all real estate service practitioners with a PRC license automatically become members of PhilRES.
As of present, there are about 24,000 real estate service professionals nationwide that have registered with PRC and were given licenses. On the other hand, there have been 4,000 that have already signed up with PhilRES with 18,000 more joining.
