Senate OKs bill seeking to improve competence of Filipino professionals

The Senate today approved on third and final reading a bill which seeks to improve the competence of Filipino professionals by requiring them to take additional formal and non-formal learning before they can renew their professional identification cards and licenses.

Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, chairman of the Committee on Civil Service and Government Reorganization, said Senate Bill No. 2581, also known as the "Continuing Professional Development Act of 2015" sought to strengthen government efforts towards the continuing professional development (CPD) of all regulated professions in the country.

Senate President Franklin M. Drilon said that the bill would go a long way "in strengthening the Filipino workforce and producing highly-competent professionals, who are considered as our country's' best asset due to their leading role in national growth and prosperity."

"CPD is the post-licensure practice of inculcating skills, knowledge and ethical values upon all professionals through various methods such as formal learning, informal learning, self-directed learning, on-line learning activities and accredited professional work experience," Trillanes said in his sponsorship speech.

Once enacted into law, he said, all government agencies and private firms and organizations employing professionals would be required to include CPD as part of their human resource development plan and program.

The attendance of CPD programs would be a requirement for the renewal of the professional identification cards of all registered and licensed professionals, he said.

The bill also seeks the creation of a CPD Council in each of the regulated professions, which shall be under the supervision of the concerned Professional Regulatory Boards (PRBs). The council will monitor and supervise the efficiency and progress of the CPD programs for their respective profession, according to Trillanes.

Trillanes said the measure would ensure the contributions of Filipino professionals in uplifting the general welfare and promoting the economic growth and development of the nation. Also in the birth of the ASEAN intergration, the competencies of our professionals will be enhanced in order to respond to the standards in the national, regional and international labor markets.

"We are pushing for the passage of a separate and all-encompassing measure that specifically provides for the continuing professional development of all professionals in the country, since not all professional regulatory bills can be amended at present due to time limitations," Trillanes said. (Olive Caunan)