Question & AnswerQ&A (Republic Act No. 10915)
Republic Act No. 10915 is officially titled the "Philippine Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering Act of 2016."
The State's primary policy is to promote, strengthen, and regulate the practice of agricultural and biosystems engineering by ensuring relevant education, enhancing roles and career prospects, and delivering agricultural and biosystems engineering services to accelerate agricultural and fishery modernization, as well as ensuring food and water security, bio-energy development, conservation, environmental protection, and human health and safety.
This Act covers agricultural and biosystems engineers, including the examination, registration, licensure, supervision, control, regulation of the practice; curriculum development; professional competency development; and integration under one national Accredited Integrated Professional Organization (AIPO).
Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering refers to the application of engineering science and design to processes and systems involved in sustainable production, post-production, processing of safe food, fiber, timber, and other biological materials, including the efficient utilization and management of natural and renewable resources to enhance human health harmoniously with the environment.
A Board member must be a Filipino citizen, at least 35 years old, holder of a Bachelor's degree in Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering or equivalent, a registered and licensed agricultural and biosystems engineer with at least 10 years of active practice, not connected to any agricultural engineering educational institution or review center for 3 years prior, a member in good standing of the AIPO for at least 5 years but not an incumbent officer, and never convicted of an offense involving moral turpitude.
The examination includes Agricultural and Biosystems Power, Energy and Machinery Engineering; Land and Water Resources Engineering; Agricultural and Biosystems Structures and Environment Engineering; Agricultural and Bioprocess Engineering; Project Management and Research; Fundamentals of Agricultural, Fishery, Ecological and Environmental Sciences; Mathematics and Basic Engineering Principles; Laws, Professional Standards and Ethics; and other subjects related to the competencies required by the profession.
A candidate must obtain a weighted general average of at least 70%, with no grade lower than 55% in any subject. If a subject grade is below 55% but the general average is 70% or higher, the candidate must retake the subject(s) where the grade was below 55%.
Such person shall be penalized with a fine of not less than 100,000 pesos but not more than 500,000 pesos, or imprisonment of 6 months to 5 years, or both, at the court's discretion.
Foreign agricultural and biosystems engineers can only practice if their country permits Filipino agricultural and biosystems engineers to practice there under the same conditions (reciprocity). They must also secure a temporary/special permit from the Board, work with a Filipino counterpart, and meet other regulatory conditions.
The certificate of registration (COR) authorizes a person to practice agricultural and biosystems engineering in the Philippines and remains effective unless revoked or suspended. The professional identification card, subject to renewal and CPD requirements, serves as proof of registration and license validity for practice.