LOOK: New bill to repeal CPD Law filed in Congress

MANILA, Philippines – A new bill that seeks to abolish the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Law was recently filed in the House of Representatives.

House Bill No. 510 or the “Act Repealing Republic Act 10912 Otherwise Known as the Continuing Professional Development Act of 2016” has been submitted in the 18th Congress.

It is authored by ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France L. Castro, Bayan Muna Party-list Rep. Carlos Zarate, Rep. Ferdinand Gaite, Rep. Eufemia Cullamat, Gabriela Women’s Party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas and Kabataan Party-list Sarah Jane Elago.

SEE ALSO: Lawmakers formally file a bill to repeal CPD Law

The authors stated that the CPD Law merely followed “neoliberal economic blueprint fully subscribed to by the past and the current administration.”

While the CPD Law was aimed to respond to the ASEAN’s requirement for integration and labor migration, the authors explained that it only leads to Filipino workers being exported like “cheap providers of professional services.”

“The requirement for professionals to conform to the market-based ASEAN Qualifications Reference Framework which ‘enables comparisons of qualifications across ASEAN Member States’ and the ASEAN Mutual Recognition Arrangement promotes further the labor export policy, which already sends daily thousands of Filipinos, professionals among them,” the statement reads.

The authors added that the labor migration has resulted in a “brain drain” problem as the country experiences lack of trained professionals. They said the country “relies mainly on the private provision of continuing professional development, treating professionals as milking cows for profit.”

The lawmakers lamented how the CPD Law has exploited the professionals as it imposed “multiple financial, logistical and psychological burdens to them. They claimed that professionals are forced to spend huge amounts of money, time, unpaid leaves and effort to fulfill their CPD requirements.

New bill to repeal CPD Law filed in Congress

New bill to repeal CPD Law filed in Congress

New bill to repeal CPD Law filed in Congress

The authors called the CPD Law as “unnecessary law” because there are already existing laws, regulations, charters that govern all 53 professions.

Last March 1, the new Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the CPD Law mandated by Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) took effect.

While going through the transition period where the CPD council and the PRC will work in amending new measures, several provisions were made. Among those are the following:

  • CPD is still a mandatory requirement for the renewal of the PRC ID of all registered and licensed professionals
  • Significant decrease in the number of required CPD units for the renewal of professional license. From 45 units, it’s now down to 15 units every three years
  • In-house trainings and capacity-building activities of government agencies and corporations, including local government units and private employers shall be credited and considered as CPD compliance

— Sally, The Summit Express



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