FULL TEXT: SBN 2073 on Repealing the CPD Law

AN ACT REPEALING REPUBLIC ACT NO. 10912, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE “CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ACT OF 2016”

Republic Act (R.A.) No. 10912, otherwise known as the “Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Act of 2016”, requires CPD as a mandatory requirement for the renewal of a Professional Identification Card every three (3) years. The CPD Act lapsed into Law on July 21, 2016 and its implementation started on March 15, 2017, upon the effectivity of Resolution No. 1032 or the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of R.A. No. 10912.

R.A. 10912 was enacted “to promote and upgrade the practice of profession in the country … [and to] … improve the competence of the professionals in accordance with the international standards of practice, thereby, ensuring their contribution in uplifting the general welfare, economic growth and development of the nation.”

While the purpose is noble, many certified public accountants challenge the practicality and reasonableness of the extensive CPD requirements imposed on them? Several groups of teachers also point out that even before the implementation of CPD, teachers and other professionals have already been engaging in CPD activities.

In addition, a group of nurses reason that a nurse has to cough up Phpl 5,000 to Php30,000 in order to earn the required 45 CPD units, a considerable amount of money given that a nurse’s average monthly take-home net pay is Php 10,000 for those in the private sector and roughly Php 18,000 to Php20,000 in the public sector.

More than a year since its implementation, the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) has already received many complaints regarding the operational guidelines of the CPD Act. A poll conducted by the PRC in February 2018 reveal that 95,950 out of 101,000 or 9 out of 10 Facebook users who participated in the survey agreed to abolish the CPD Act.

Many professionals are against this law due to the costs of undergoing the required trainings, seminars or other activities undertaken that is related to their profession to earn the necessary CPD units. The CPD Act has only made the process costly, more bureaucratic and unnecessarily regulative.

While further training is needed to continuously grow and learn as professionals, it does not come cheap especially to professionals who are just starting to practice their respective careers and earn meager incomes.

Some professionals even have to work in graveyard shifts and do not have the luxury of time to enrol in training programs.

The accessibility of these training programs also poses a challenge as they may not be readily available to professionals in the countryside and, thus, the cost of transportation and board and lodging in attending the required training programs add up to the already exorbitant training costs. This problem is aggravated among OFWS who may not have easy access to affordable training programs abroad.

The CPD requirement becomes an even bigger problem for those who temporarily resort to accepting jobs, usually menial, other than their profession in the absence of job opportunities. It becomes more difficult to update themselves and reintegrate into their chosen profession.

At this time when inflation rate is at a record high, the peso is at its weakest level and oil prices increase almost weekly, Filipinos do not need additional burden to worry about. Thus, this bill seeks to repeal the CPD Act.