PropertyGuru Philippines Property Awards honours Edgar B. Saavedra as 2020 Philippines Real Estate Personality of the Year

With two decades worth of experience in engineering and construction under his belt, Edgar has successfully transformed his mid-sized firm into the country’s leading conglomerate

Despite the challenges brought by the pandemic, the 8th PropertyGuru Philippines Property Awards set forth to continue the annual celebration of the finest in the industry through an innovative virtual platform. 

More than any other year, 2020 has brought out the strength and resilience of the Philippines’ real estate sector and the brilliancy of the leaders amidst the crisis, battling unforeseen policies and drawbacks with the least amount of notice or preparation. 

And without a doubt, the chairman of Megawide Construction Corporation Edgar Saavedra has proven to be a ruling force in the industry. Alongside co-founder Michael Cosiquien, they transformed their once mid-sized firm into one of the leading diversified engineering and infrastructure conglomerates in the Philippines. 

To date, the company has expanded its operations from just Manila to Rizal, Cebu, and Clark. Under his leadership, Megawide has been responsible for key infrastructure developments across the country, from the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) Terminal 2 and the Clark International Airport Passenger Terminal Building to the Malolos-Clark Railway Project Phase 1. 

His company is also no stranger to accolades, having received several recognitions throughout the years, such as receiving the Quadruple A License from the Philippine Contractor’s Accreditation Board in 2017 and being named by Finance Asia as one of the Best Managed Companies in 2019. 

In 25 November 2020, the editors of the PropertyGuru Property Report magazine, the official magazine of PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards, honoured Edgar Saavedra as the Philippines Real Estate Personality of the Year.  

Upon receiving the recognition, Edgar shared his thoughts regarding the current state of the world: “2020 has been a difficult year for everyone, but slowly we are seeing recovery with projects getting back in full swing. Megawide being part of this year’s PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards is a mark of the synergy and partnership between developers and builders, especially in this new normal.  

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Together, we must find ways to adapt to the new health and safety requirements to protect our people in project sites, integrate design and engineering to create developments that are pandemic-ready, and elevate the skills and knowledge of our people so that we can be more agile and innovative in the face of this crisis.”

As a real estate leader who will, in one way or another, contribute to the urbanised future of the country, we asked him about his overall vision for the country, to which he answered, “As a partner builder, we want to showcase how our vision of a First-World Philippines can be achieved across many areas, particularly real estate.” 

Megawide Construction has been known for injecting their brand of ‘first-world design’ throughout all segments of engineering and construction, whether vertical or horizontal projects, catering to all walks of life – affordable, middle-income, and high-end. 

“Real estate has a strong multiplier effect on the economy, and we want to do our share in fueling growth through this sector. We’re driven by our commitment to continuously improve engineering standards in the Philippines in all segments,” he added. 

Edgar said that Megawide is dedicated to projects that promote national developments, namely: 

1. Transit-oriented developments (TOD), like their 2018 Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange project. “In fact, we want to work with developers in integrating TODs into real estate to improve accessibility and mobility for Filipinos to encourage relocation and decongest urban centres (ex. provide mobility from Cavite to Metro Manila).” 

1. Construction technology to address problems like housing backlogs, which can be resolved by precast and other engineering solutions. “According to the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development, [the Philippines] has a current backlog of 6.75 million units, which could grow to 22 million units if not addressed today. Using innovations like precast can help deliver these units within the needed timeframe, while still meeting design standards set by the government,” explained Edgar. 

Other than his successes at Megawide, he also serves as the director for both Megawide Corporation Foundation, Inc. and GMR MEGAWIDE Cebu Airport Corporation. 

The 8th PropertyGuru Philippines Property Awards is supported by platinum sponsor Kohler; gold sponsors Hitachi Elevators and Escalators and Boysen; official magazine PropertyGuru Property Report; official PR partner FleishmanHillard Manila; media partners Balikbayan, Business News Philippines, Hoppler, Inquirer.net, Manila Republic, and MoneySense; official charity partner Right to Play; official ESG partner Baan Dek Foundation; and official supervisor BDO Roxas, Cruz, Tagle & Co. 

For more information, email [email protected] or visit the official website: AsiaPropertyAwards.com.