Council of Filipino Consultants (CEST)

CEST is a corporation established under Philippine laws on May 17, 1988. It was originally envisioned to provide multi-disciplinary engineering consulting services to public and private corporations, national government agencies and local government units in the Philippines, and in other Asian countries. The founders of CEST, whose desire was to be actively involved in development work, set up the company to ensure that their individual expertise, and those of others, can collectively contribute to the realization of its clients’ development goals. After 18 years in the consulting sector, CEST has become an institutional knowledge base that has a reservoir of globally recognized specialists and experts who possess the right technology, sterling qualifications and competencies. It continues to assist its growing list of international public and private sector clients to maximize and sustain their competitiveness through the optimized development of their existing assets and resources. The company’s philosophy is “shaping the environment of the future today”. With the strength and confidence that emanate from its past undertakings, CEST is determined to achieve its vision of being a distinguished service provider in area-based resource management, seeing itself as a responsive, distinct and strategic partner to its Clients, as well as the advisor and executor of their plans. It is fully committed to enhancing the competitiveness of its various Clients by strengthening their “place capacities” to be Livable, Investable, Visitable,and Environmentally Viable (L.I.V.E.). The company’s capability is recognized by multi-lateral and bilateral international financing institutions such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the World Bank (WB), the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the World Health Organization (WHO), the Water Environment Federation and the Asia Pacific Institute of Environment Assessment, among others. CEST offers services which cover the entire spectrum of the engineering field, as well as the “soft side” of any project undertaking. Its core expertise is in environmental infrastructure systems, with particular emphasis on water supply, waste water treatment and solid waste. It leads in eco-tourism and industrial estate development, agro-industrial development, urban and rural development and redevelopment as well as real estate development. Its expertise in social infrastructure facilities, such as drainage and irrigation systems, and in public enterprises has been widely recognized. CEST provides “soft” services such as advisory services, capacity building and operations enhancement in such fields as organization and management, institutional development, economy and finance, socio-culture and community development, gender, strategic communications, and information systems development. Among the many services CEST offers to its clients are in planning and project management, including project identification, appraisal, packaging and fund sourcing. CEST also provides services in the preparation of feasibility studies, environmental studies, and engineering designs. For projects in the construction stages, CEST offers contract documentation and construction supervision to protect its clients by ensuring that project plans and designs are strictly adhered to. Among the valued clients of CEST are the following:  -Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) -Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) -Department of Tourism (DOT) -Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA) -Department of Health (DOH) -National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) -Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) -Economic Support Fund Secretariat (ESFS) -Department of the Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) -Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) -Department of Public Works and Highways -Numerous Local Government Units in the Philippines -Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA)   CEST has also undertaken overseas projects in Laos, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Peru, Pakistan, Palau, Indonesia, Sudan, Uzbekistan, Eritrea, Oman, and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. CEST provides complete services, encompassing the broad but specialized disciplines required by individual projects and clients based on the most comprehensive and up-to-date knowledge, experience and research. Every assignment big or small, complex or simple, is undertaken through integrated project management system, which is aligned to international project management practices that aims for speed, efficiency and sustained quality from inception to completion stage. The firm believes in teamwork, and in the importance of maintaining sufficient flexibility in considering individual and special needs of each project. CEST is in the category of a “small” corporation, having not more than 50 regular professionals, specialists and experts. However, this professional pool is complemented by highly qualified and experienced consultants engaged by CEST for specific projects and for special client requirements.