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10 July 2025
On June 28, De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde hosted the Philippine Institute of Environmental Planners (PIEP) NCR South’s first Metro Hackathon in Metro Manila. The seminar gathered students, planners, architects, and educators to examine how climate stress, governance gaps, and infrastructure challenges are reshaping the region, and what planners must do next.
The conversation opened with a direct challenge to conventional practice. “We are no longer just authors of land use maps,” said PIEP National President ENP Jason San Juan. “We are strategists, data interpreters, governance integrators, and coalition builders.” He emphasized that environmental planning is now about navigating disruption, not following static frameworks.
For PIEP NCR South Chapter President ENP Mark Roeland de Castro, that disruption is measurable. “Every five seconds, 25 people relocate to cities worldwide. In the Philippines, it happens at a rate of ten per second.” He urged the audience to think of Metro Manila as an integrated system, not a loose collection of local government units competing for resources.
Benilde students from Architecture and Real Estate Management programs were placed at the center of the discussion. The seminar allowed them to directly engage with the kinds of urban challenges their future professions will demand. “The solutions you develop here have the potential to make a real difference in the lives of millions of Filipinos,” said SMIT Dean Joana Diñoso, framing the event as both a learning platform and a civic responsibility.
With five decades in the field, ENP Dr. Nathaniel von Einsiedel shared historical perspective and a systems view of urban development. “Metro Manila is not just a collection of cities. It is a living system. Complex, contested, but full of potential. We must move beyond traditional planning and embrace metropolitan thinking.”
The Metro Hackathon was made possible by a partnership formalized two days earlier, when Benilde and PIEP NCR South signed a Memorandum of Understanding on June 26. Chancellor Benhur Ong described the collaboration as both timely and necessary. “This event not only enriches our students’ learning, but also creates a vital space for dialogue among educators, practitioners, and policy thinkers.”
Benilde’s academic programs are designed to prepare professionals who understand the real-world complexity of the built environment. Under the School of Environment and Design, students pursuing architecture explore sustainability, cultural identity, and systems-based design. The program encourages solutions that respond to local context while addressing global challenges like climate change and resource depletion. Graduates pursue roles in urban planning, heritage conservation, construction management, and design education. In the June 2025 Architecture Board Examination, Benilde posted an 86.9% passing rate for first-time takers and an 86.05% overall rate.
Real estate students are trained in property development, valuation, and land governance through a curriculum that blends business, planning, and environmental principles. Offered by the School of Management and Information Technology, the program prepares future brokers and decision-makers to lead conversations on market strategy and civic accountability. In the April 2025 Real Estate Brokers Licensure Examination, Benilde posted a 76.92% passing rate for first-time takers and a 75% overall rate.
The Metro Hackathon is expected to expand in future cycles, not just as a seminar, but as a planning tool. This kind of partnership is consistent with how Benilde approaches education: connecting theory to practice and equipping students to lead in real-world planning contexts.
For more information on Benilde’s undergraduate programs, contact us at (63) 2 8230 5100 local 1801 or admissions@benilde.edu.ph. You may also visit our website at www.benilde.edu.ph.
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