Antonio O. Tansingco

Philippine Construction & Project Management Pioneer

1933-2006

PMForum has recently learned of the death of one of the leading figures in the fields of construction and project management in The Philippines, Mr. Antonio O. Tansingco. Mr. Tansingco passed away in 2006. In the late 1960s, he studied under the late Professor John W. Fondahl at Stanford University in California, USA. The information below was provided by one of his close associates in Manila.

Antonio Obcena Tansingco was a registered Civil Engineer and a Retired Captain of the Philippine Navy. He was the Commander of the Philippine Navy Seabees when it first started operations in 1967. He later joined the private sector and held the following positions in the engineering and construction industry: Vice President & General Manager of the Construction Division of Engineering Equipment, Inc. (EEI), Executive Vice President of Engineering and Construction Corporation of Asia (ECCO-ASIA), Executive Vice President of Bataan Shipyard and Engineering Corporation (BASECO), President of Phil-Asia Shipbreaking Company (a sister company of EEI), and President of AOT Construction Managers and Consultants, Inc.

He taught the subject, Construction Planning and Scheduling at the graduate program in Ateneo de Manila University, and undergraduate program of Civil Engineering in De La Salle University, He also conducted seminars for staff and line personnel on the same subject in the various construction companies in the Philippines, and wrote articles on Planning and Scheduling which were published in various magazines of the construction industry. He was a faculty member at the Philippine Military Academy in Baguio, Philippines.

Tansingco obtained from the Philippine Military Academy a BS degree, BSCE from the University of the Philippines, MS in Civil Engineering, major in Construction Management from Stanford University, USA, and MBA from Ateneo de Manila University.

Inspired by John W. Fondahl, his professor on Construction Planning and Scheduling at Stanford University in 1968, he compiled materials and started writing a book on Precedence Diagram in 1972. He published his first book on Effective Planning and Scheduling of Projects in 1975. The latest edition was published in July 1995.

During his stint with the Armed Forces of the Philippines as Commander of the Philippine Navy, he was referred to as the Father of Seabees. The Seabees is the construction arm of the Philippine Navy.

Captain Antonio O. Tansingco was the founder of AOT Construction Managers and Consultants, an engineering consultancy firm for project management and design, registered under Philippine laws in 1994. He was starting a project to computerize Precedence Diagramming when he passed away on July 1, 2006.

PMForum extends our sympathies to his family and friends, even at this late date. Those who have devoted their lives to our profession should not be forgotten, especially the professional pioneers in every country.

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