The family of our much esteemed Adviser, Roger Murga, hosted a dinner party at the Celebrity Sports Club on August 19, 2023 on the occasion of his 89th birthday. The event was well-organized by his three sons and their families.
Mesmerizing the crowd, Roger recounted the challenges and solutions that he took up, as the Chairman of Private Infrastructure Development Corporation to build the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEX) Project.
Note that after retiring as President of EEI Corporation in 1999, he was appointed President of National Power Corporation, retiring in 2004 when he reached age 70. He enjoyed his retirement briefly, keeping himself busy with board directorships. But then, he was invited to be the Chairman of the all-Filipino consortium of seven large companies, Private InfraDev Corporation (PIDC) that undertook the planning/design, financial negotiations, and eventual construction of the 80-kilometer TPLEX project. (The seven consortium members thought that the Chairman should not come from any one of them.)
As Roger said, he was not built to be a boardroom fixture. He was in fact, THE MOST “SENIOR” Project Manager. This is a role he enjoyed very much, making weekly visits to the construction sites, providing guidance to field contractors and suppliers, discussing issues and concerns in-person with affected LGU leaders and the DPWH, and overseeing the implementation of solutions on the ground.
In the course of the project, which spanned over 15 years, the financial interests of the consortium members were bought out by SMC Infrastructure.
For UPCOE, Roger was instrumental in soliciting donations for professorial chairs from several companies in the energy industry. He continues active advisory participation in UPERDFI affairs. Adviser Mag Albarracin established a professorial chair in his honor in 2008. Roger set up the Prof. Tek Hedriana Student Leadership Award at the Dept of Mechanical Engineering, where he gained his BSME in 1958; and through PIDC, he set up the TPLEX Academic Excellence Award in Transportation Engineering in the UPCOE Institute of Civil Engineering.
Present in the party were construction industry luminaries, like UPERDFI Adviser Sid Consunji (DMCI was an original consortium member), DM Consunji Construction President George Consunji, former EEI Corporation president Sammy Lazo, Semirara Mining President Cristina Gotianun, Patrick Ferrer, CEO of RN Ferrer and Associates, DMCI Homes EVP Dinky Laperal. Alumni and current employees of EEI (led by newly-retired president Bobby Castillo), National Power Corp and Private InfraDev Corp were also present. UPCOE Dean Tonette Tanchuling, UPICE Director Regin Regidor and UPERDFI ED Tito Aliga, Roger’s friends from the Mira-Nila Homes, and the Our Lady of Consolation Parish also graced the occasion.
