MANILA, Philippines – The House in the 19th Congress approved a proposal seeking to amend the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Act of 2016, a law which critics said made the renewal of professionals’ licenses impractical.

The guidelines under the CPD law have been a constant source of headache for licensed professionals, who grapple with costly seminars by private providers just to earn units.

House Bill No. 7744, which hurdled the lower chamber on final reading on Monday, May 15, introduces numerous changes, including:

• exempting newly licensed professionals on the first renewal of their professional identification card;
• exempting overseas Filipino workers and senior citizens who are not engaged in the practice of their professions from CPD requirements;
• authorizing the Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC) to suspend or extend the compliance period for CPD requirements during a pandemic, state of calamity, or national emergency;
• directing government agencies and public institutions to fully fund the CPD compliance of their professional employees;
• establishing a mechanism that provides free or inexpensive training programs for licensed professionals;
• including as part of the CPD program the in-service training for teachers implemented by the Department of Education;
• providing professionals with CPD mandatory paid leave credits in order to comply with CPD requirements; and
• setting the required number of CPD credit units to 45, to be complied with every four years.

The CPD Act was enacted in response to international standards “to ensure that our professionals can face the challenging world ahead, with competency at par with the standards of other ASEAN member countries,” according to former senator Antonio Trillanes IV, who was among the authors of the law.

Years later, he acknowledged the law’s lapses and the need to introduce amendments.

Must Read

How tedious license renewal requirements result in push to amend CPD law

A total of 258 lawmakers voted in favor of HB 7744 on Monday, with no opposition, but three abstentions from the Makabayan bloc.

The left-leaning bloc’s original proposal was to repeal what they described as an “unnecessary law” that only “imposed multiple financial, logistical, and psychological burdens to professionals.”

“There are welcome amendments in the bill, but in the end, earning units is still mandatory. Many professionals’ position is to make this voluntary,” House deputy minority leader France Castro said in Filipino.

The Senate, as of writing, has four bills on the CPD law – two of which are for amendments, and two for complete repeal. None of the proposals have reached the plenary. – Rappler.com