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WHEREAS, Section 14, Article XII of the 1987 Philippine Constitution provides in part that “[T]he sustained development of a reservoir of national talents xxx professionals xxx shall be promoted by the State;”

WHEREAS, the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), under Section 7 (a), (n), and (y) of Republic Act No. 8981, otherwise known as the “PRC Modernization Act of 2000” has these specific powers:

“(a) to administer, implement and enforce the regulatory policies of the national government with respect to the regulation and licensing of the various professions and occupations under its jurisdiction including the enhancement and maintenance of professional and occupational standards and ethics and the enforcement of the rules and regulations relative thereto;”

“(n) To adopt and promulgate such rules and regulations as may be necessary to effectively implement policies with respect to the regulation and practice of the professions;”

“(y) To perform such other functions and duties as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act, the various professional regulatory laws, decrees, executive orders and other administrative issuances;”

WHEREAS, Section 9 (b) of R.A. 8981 provides that one of the Powers, Functions and Responsibilities of the Various Professional Regulatory Boards (PRBs) is “(T)o monitor the conditions affecting the practice of the profession or occupation under their respective jurisdictions and whenever necessary, adopt such measures as may be deemed proper for the enhancement of the profession or occupation and/or the maintenance of high professional, ethical and technical standards, xxx;”

WHEREAS, the President of the Republic of the Philippines issued on June 23, 2003, Executive Order (E.O.) No. 220, “[D]irecting the Adoption of the Code of Good Governance for the Professions in the Philippines;”

WHEREAS, the said Code was adopted by PRC and the PRBs embodying the principles of professional conduct specifically, integrity, and objectivity, professional competence and global competitiveness;”

WHEREAS, the President of the Republic of the Philippines, directed and convened the National Council for Global Competitiveness, to ensure that among other things, our own professionals are also globally competitive in preparation for the effects of economic globalization;

WHEREAS, the Republic of the Philippines, as one of the sovereign member states of the World Trade Organization (WTO), has to deal with and prepare itself for the implementation of the 4^th Protocol, under the General Agreement for Services in Trade (GATS), a general agreement that will govern trade among member nations in twelve (12) Classifications of Services;

WHEREAS, in the 4^th Protocol under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), the Philippines is mandated to make sure it can o f fer competitively to other WTO members professional services in Health and Education, Marketing and Distribution, Telecommunications, Business Outsourcing Services, Information Technology, Engineering, Architectural and other Construction services, Tourism and allied services, Transportation and Logistics services, among others, and therefore made attendance by our registered professionals to accredited Continuing Professional Education (CPE) mandatory, as a result of the WTO and GATS initiatives;

WHEREAS, the Republic of the Philippines as a member state of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), has to ensure that the Filipino professional is compliant with established requirements in the various Mutual Recognition Arrangements/Agreements (MRA) entered into under the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services (AFAS);

WHEREAS, these MRA’s on, to wit: Nursing, Engineering, Surveying and Architecture services prescribe line requirements prior recognition of competencies/qualifications for the practice of these professions within the territories of other member states;

WHEREAS, one of the requirements and common to all of these MRA’s, is the compliance with satisfactory continuing professional development;

WHEREAS, the PRC, as the instrument of the Filipinos in securing for the nation a reliable, trustworthy, and progressive system of developing professionals whose competencies are globally competitive, has decided to make attendance to the CPE Council and PRC Accredited Continuing Professional Education courses mandatory for registered professionals to maintain their status in good standing and globally competitive, as soon as the list of accredited CPE courses and service providers have been officially released by the PRC;

WHEREFORE, the Commission hereby RESOLVED, as it now RESOLVES, to prescribe and mandate all registered professionals to attend duly accredited Continuing Professional Education courses from duly accredited Continuing Professional Education Service Providers, as soon as the same have been made available by the Commission, to maintain their status in good standing in their respective professions and to ensure their competitiveness in the light of liberalization of trade in services under the 4th Protocol of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) pursued by the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the ASEAN where the Republic of the Philippines is an active member.

This Resolution shall take effect after fifteen days following its complete and full publication in the Official Gazette or any newspaper of general circulation.

Adopted: 01 Aug. 2008

(SGD.) LEONOR TRIPON-ROSERO
Secretary

(SGD.) RUTH RAÑA- PADILLA
Commissioner