Two lawmakers on Friday asked President Rodrigo Duterte to stop the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) program, saying that it has become a money-making scam.
Representatives Neil Abayon of Aangat Tayo Partylist and Bernadette Herrera-Dy of Bagong Henerasyon Partylist urged the President to order the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) to suspend its CPD program while the House committee on revision of laws finds ways to correct the implementation of the law.
“The continuing professional development law is conceptually sound, but how the PRC has failed to implement it with justice and fairness to professionals is not. It is for this reason that I ask the President to step in,” said Abayon, a member of the House committee on revision of laws and a registered nurse.
“While the PRC CPD program—not the law—is abolished, all current licenses must be considered valid,” the congressman added.
Abayon admitted that CPD is necessary to update the training for professionals because they should know the latest practices and tools of their fields.
“What the PRC has failed miserably at is not exercising creativity and innovation to make CPD affordable and accessible. Instead, a CPD training industry has grown much to the disadvantage of professionals,” he said.
He added that “aside from the convenience and economic welfare of Filipino professionals, there are laws on professions, legal technicalities and international conventions on the mutual recognition of professionals’ licenses and credentials—all of which Congress must consider to come up with a good solution.”
“There are still entities and people out there who charge thousands of pesos for CPD training. Given current difficult economic times, how can our professionals cope with that? There are even some CPD event organizers who could be of dubious character yet they flourish and run rampant,” Abayon said.
Rep. Herrera-Dy said the PRC’s CPD system is broken because it has failed to make CPD training affordable, easily accessible and convenient for our country’s registered professionals, many of whom are overseas as nurses, doctors, engineers, and teachers.
“Naisip ba ng PRC kung paano makaka-attend ng CPD ang mga OFWs? Available na ba CPD seminars na online? Paano kung hindi sila makapag-CPD dahil naghahanap-buhay sila sa abroad, tatanggalan ba sila ng lisensya?” the lady solon asked.
Maging yung professionals na narito na sa Pilipinas ay nahihirapan pa ring makapag-comply sa tagubilin ng batas dahil ginagawang ‘raket’ ng ilang negosyante ang CPD. Mahal na nga ang singil, abala pa sa hectic na schedule ng mga professionals na naghahanap buhay lang nang marangal,” the House Assistant Majority Leader said.
“Intervention of the President has now become necessary to correct the injustice committed against Filipino professionals. I ask President Duterte to suspend PRC’s CPD program until Pinoy professionals are assured of convenient and affordable access to CPD programs,” Rep. Herrera-Dy said.
The congresswoman said the PRC has been “blind and deaf to the plight of the professionals victimized by CPD profiteers. Either they suspend the CPD program meantime or Congress shall seriously consider repealing the law altogether.”
It can be recalled that during the meeting with Senator Ralph Recto last week, PRC representatives admitted that the implementation of CPD law is undergoing ‘birth pains’ due to numerous complaints they have received.
The agency also revealed that only 10 staff are assigned to handle CPD concerns all over the country. They have been asking Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for additional budget in the implementation of the law but to no avail.
Recto said that a Senate hearing on CPD matters will be scheduled probably second week of November. (With reports from Daily Tribune)
