Legal basis, interaction with other laws
- Section 31 repeals all Acts, executive orders, rules and regulations, or parts thereof inconsistent with Republic Act No. 5527.
- Section 31 expressly provides that nothing in Republic Act No. 5527 repeals or amends:
- The Medical Act of 1959 (R.A. 2382, as amended by R.A. 4224).
- The Clinical Laboratory Act of 1966 (R.A. 4688).
- The Blood Banking Law of 1956 (R.A. 1517).
- Section 29 states that the penal provisions apply without prejudice to the Medical Act of 1959 as amended relating to illegal practice of Medicine.
Core definitions and key bodies
- Section 2(a) defines “Medical Technology” as an auxiliary branch of laboratory medicine involving examinations by chemical, microscopic, bacteriologic and other medical laboratory procedures or technic that aid physicians in diagnosis, study and treatment of disease and the promotion of health.
- Section 2(b) defines “Pathologist” as a duly registered physician specially trained in laboratory medicine and in the gross and microscopic study and interpretation of human tissues, secretions and excretions, including functions, to diagnose disease, follow its course, determine treatment effectiveness, ascertain cause of death, and advance medicine through research.
- Section 2(c) defines “Medical Technologist” as a person who engages in medical technology work under the supervision of a pathologist or a licensed physician authorized by the Department of Health in places where there is no pathologist, and who, after passing prescribed training and examination (Bachelor of Science in Medical Technology/Bachelor of Science in Hygiene), is registered under Republic Act No. 5527.
- Section 2(d) defines “Medical Technician” as a person who is not a graduate of Bachelor of Science in Medical Technology/Bachelor of Science in Hygiene but who passes the corresponding civil service examination, and performs medical technology work under supervision of a registered medical technologist and/or qualified pathologist.
- Section 2(e) defines “Accredited Medical Technology Training Laboratory” as a clinical laboratory, office, agency, clinic, hospital or sanitarium duly approved by the Department of Health or its authorized agency.
- Section 2(f) defines “Recognized School of Medical Technology” as a school, college or university offering Medical Technology course approved by the Department of Education, upon recommendation of the council of medical technology education (the Council).
- Section 2(g) defines “Council” as the Council of Medical Technology Education established under Republic Act No. 5527.
- Section 2(h) defines “Board” as the Board of Examiners for Medical Technology established under Republic Act No. 5527.
Council of Medical Technology Education
- Section 3 establishes the Council of Medical Technology Education composed of: the Secretary of Education or the Director of Private Education as Chairman; the Director of the Bureau of Research and Laboratories of the Department of Health as Vice-Chairman; the Chairman and two members of the Board of Medical Technology; the dean of the Institute of Hygiene of the University of the Philippines; a representative of deans/heads of private medical technology schools; and the presidents of the Philippine Association of Medical Technologists and the Philippine Society of Pathologists.
- Section 4 grants Council members PHP 25 per diem for each meeting actually attended, but limits authorized meetings with per diem to two in a month; government officials receiving regular salaries do not receive per diem; traveling expenses are also provided for official duties.
- Section 5 requires the Council to:
- Recommend the minimum required curriculum for medical technology.
- Determine and prescribe the number of students allowed per school considering student-instructor ratio and availability of facilities.
- Approve medical technology schools that meet requirements and recommend closure of substandard schools.
- Require annual submissions from schools on or before the month of June of an annual report including total students and instructors, facilities for instruction, list of recent graduates, and new admissions.
- Inspect medical technology schools when necessary to determine whether a high educational standard is maintained.
- Certify for admission into an undergraduate internship students who have satisfactorily completed three years of the medical technology course or its equivalent and collect PHP 5 each for the Council’s operating fund.
- Formulate and recommend approval of refresher courses for applicants who failed the Board Examination for the third time.
- Promulgate, prescribe, and enforce necessary rules and regulations for proper implementation of Council functions.
Medical technology education requirements
- Section 6 requires the medical technology course to be at least four years, including a 12-month satisfactory internship in accredited laboratories.
- Section 6 requires the course to include the following subjects: English, Biochemistry, Spanish, Gross Anatomy, Social Science, Histology, General Zoology, Physiology, Botany, Clinical Parasitology, Mathematics, General Pathology, College Physics, Microbiology, General Chemistry, Biostatistics, Qualitative Chemistry, Clinical Laboratory Methods, Quantitative Chemistry, including hemotology, serology, blood banking, clinical microscopy, applied microAbiology, and parasitology, histopathologic techniques, and cyto-technology.
- Section 6 authorizes the Council to change, remove from, or add to these subjects subject to the approval of the Secretary of Education based on needs and demands of progress in the science of medical technology.
Board of Examiners: composition, qualifications, duties
- Section 7 creates the Board of Examiners for Medical Technology, composed of:
- A Chairman who is a pathologist, appointed by the President from a list submitted by the Philippine Society of Pathologists; and
- Two members who are registered medical technologists, appointed by the President from a list submitted by the Philippine Association of Medical Technologists, each with a term of three years.
- Section 7 provides initial board term assignments: one first member acts as chairman for three years, another member for two years, and the third member for one year.
- Section 7 grants first members a certificate of registration as Medical Technologist without prior examination, and limits reappointment to no more than one reappointment per member.
- Section 7 directs the President to fill vacancies; the appointee serves only the unexpired term.
- Section 8 prohibits appointment to the Board unless the person is:
- A Filipino citizen,
- of good moral character,
- a qualified pathologist or duly registered medical technologist with the degree Bachelor of Science in Medical Technology/Bachelor of Science in Hygiene,
- has at least ten years in laboratory medicine/medical technology practice before appointment, and
- is not a member of the faculty of any medical technology school and has no pecuniary interest (direct or indirect) in such institution.
- Section 8 reduces the ten-year practice requirement to five years for the first three years following approval of the Act.
- Section 9 appoints the Commissioner of Civil Service as Executive Officer of the Board and requires him to conduct the examinations; the Secretary of the Board is the Secretary appointed under Section ten of Act Numbered Four Thousand Seven, as amended; the Secretary keeps a register of all persons granted certificates.
- Section 10 sets Board compensation: each Board member receives PHP 10 for each applicant examined and PHP 5 for each applicant granted a certificate of registration without examination.
- Section 11 vests and requires the Board to:
- Administer the Act,
- administer oaths in connection with administering the Act,
- issue, suspend and revoke certificates of registration for the practice of medical technology,
- look into conditions affecting the practice and adopt measures for good ethics and standards,
- investigate violations and issue subpoena and subpoena duces tecum to secure witnesses and documents related to charges,
- draft rules and regulations necessary to carry out the Act, but only after approval of the President of the Philippines.
- Section 12 allows the President to remove Board members for neglect of duty, incompetency, malpractice, or unprofessional, unethical, immoral or dishonorable conduct after opportunity to defend in a proper administrative investigation; during investigation, the President may suspend the member and appoint a temporary member.
School and laboratory accreditation framework
- Section 13 requires the Department of Education to approve medical technology schools under the Act.
- Section 13 requires the Department of Health (or its authorized agency), upon Council recommendation, to approve laboratories as accredited training laboratories upon satisfactory evidence that labs:
- possess qualified personnel and are properly equipped to carry out laboratory procedures commonly required in bacteriology, serology, parasitology, hematology, and biochemistry; and
- offer a scope of activities sufficient to provide training in those laboratory procedures.
Registration requirement and practice inhibition
- Section 14 prohibits any person from practicing or offering to practice medical technology (as defined in Section 2) without a valid certificate of registration from the Board.
- Section 14 exempts from registration requirement:
- Duly registered physicians.
- Medical technologists from other countries called in for consultation or as visiting/exchange professors to colleges/universities, limited to practicing that function only.
- Medical technologists in the service of the United States Armed Forces stationed in the Philippines, rendering services for members of those forces only.
Examination process and passing standards
- Section 15 requires all applicants for registration as medical technologists (except as specifically allowed by the Act) to undergo a written examination given by the Board annually in the greater Manila area, Cebu and Davao during August or September, on dates and places designated by the Board.
- Section 15 requires written notices of the examination to be published in at least three newspapers of national circulation by the Secretary of the Board at least thirty days before the examination date.
- Section 16 requires an applicant to furnish satisfactory proof prior to the examination that the applicant:
- is in good health and of good moral character; and
- has completed at least four years leading to the degrees Bachelor of Science in Medical Technology or Bachelor of Science in Hygiene conferred by a recognized school/college/university.
- Section 16 allows applicants from other paramedical professions who are actually performing medical technology for the last five years prior to enactment, provided they meet minimum requirements under Section 6, except the one year undergraduate internship or practical training requirement.
- Section 17 sets examination subjects and relative weights:
- Clinical Chemistry — 20%
- Microbiology and Parasitology — 20%
- Hematology — 20%
- Blood Banking and Serology — 20%
- Clinical Microscopy (Urinalysis and other body fluids) — 10%
- Histopathologic Technique — 10%
- Section 17 requires the Board to prepare the subject schedule and submit it to the Commissioner of Civil Service for publication at least four months before the examination date.
- Section 17 requires the Board to compute each examinee’s general average using the relative weights.
- Section 17 authorizes the Board to change, add to, or remove subjects or weights subject to prior approval of the Council.
- Section 18 requires the Board, within one hundred and twenty days after completion of the examination, to report results to the Commissioner of Civil Service, who submits the results to the President of the Philippines for approval.
- Section 19 requires passing as follows:
- a general average of at least seventy-five per cent in the written test; and
- no rating below fifty per cent in any of the major subjects; and
- the candidate must not have failed in at least sixty per cent of the subjects computed according to their relative weights.
- Section 19 provides that no further examination is given if the applicant has not qualified after three examinations, unless the applicant completes:
- a 12-month refresher course in an accredited medical technology school; or
- 12-month postgraduate training in an accredited laboratory.
- Section 19 provides that graduates of paramedical professions other than Bachelor of Science in Medical Technology/Bachelor of Science in Hygiene admitted under the Act are not given further examinations after failure to qualify for the third time.
- Section 20 requires all successful examinees to take a professional oath before the Board or any person authorized to administer oaths prior to entering practice in the Philippines.
Certificate issuance, age limit, display, and special issuance
- Section 21 requires issuance of a certificate of registration to an applicant who satisfactorily passes the examination.
- Section 21 prohibits issuance to any successful applicant who has not attained the age of twenty-one years.
- Section 21 requires certificates to be signed by all members of the Board and attested by its Secretary.
- Section 21 requires a duly registered medical technologist to display the certificate of registration in the place where he works.
- Section 21 provides for certificate issuance without examination upon application filed after approval of the Act not later than ninety days after the Board is fully constituted, to:
- persons graduated with Bachelor of Science in Hygiene and/or Bachelor of Science in Medical Technology in duly recognized schools in the Philippines or foreign countries; and who have been in practice for at least three years at the time of enactment in laboratories duly accredited by the Bureau of Research and Laboratories, Department of Health; and
- other persons who are already civil service eligible by authority of other Boards of profession and who are actually performing medical technology practice for the last five years prior to enactment.
Fees, refusal, reciprocity, and roster
- Section 22 requires the Board to charge:
- PHP 50 for each applicant for examination and registration;
- PHP 25 for each certificate of registration issued without prior examination under the Act;
- PHP 10 for issuance of a new certificate to replace a lost, destroyed, or mutilated certificate.
- Section 22 directs that all such fees are paid to the disbursing officer of the Civil Service Commission, who pays from receipts all authorized Board expenses including each member’s compensation.
- Section 23 authorizes the Board to refuse to issue a certificate of registration to any person convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction of any criminal offense involving moral turpitude, or guilty of immoral or dishonorable conduct, or unsound mind, or incurable communicable disease.
- Section 23 requires the Board to issue a written statement of reasons for refusal, which is incorporated into the Board’s record.
- Section 27 requires foreign reciprocity: no foreigner is admitted to examination, or given a certificate, or entitled to rights and privileges under the Act unless the country/state permits Filipino Medical Technologists to practice within territorial limits on the same basis as the foreigner’s nationals.
- Section 28 requires a Roster of Medical Technologists prepared annually by the Secretary of the Board commencing the year after the Act becomes effective; the roster contains name, address, citizenship, date of registration/issuance, and other pertinent data.
- Section 28 requires the roster to be open to public inspection and mandates dissemination: copies to each person included, placement on file in the Office of the President, furnishing to all Department Heads and DH bureaus/offices/instrumentalities and to other offices (private or governmental), and availability to the public upon request.
Administrative discipline, appeal, and reinstatement
- Section 24 requires administrative investigations by at least two members of the Board, with one legal officer sitting during the investigation.
- Section 24 requires adherence to existing rules of evidence during administrative proceedings.
- Section 24 guarantees respondent rights including:
- representation by counsel or hearing in person,
- a speedy and public hearing,
- confrontation and cross-examination of witnesses against the respondent,
- and other constitutional rights.
- Section 24 authorizes the Board, after proper notice and hearing, to reprimand an erring medical technologist, or revoke or suspend a certificate of registration for causes described in Section 23 and Section 29, or for unprofessional conduct, malpractice, incompetency, or serious ignorance or gross negligence in medical technology practice.
- Section 24 requires unanimity for revocation: no revocation is imposed unless there is a unanimous vote of all three Board members.
- Section 24 allows suspension or reprimand by majority vote; suspension cannot exceed two years.
- Section 24 requires surrender of certificate for suspension or revocation: when imposed, the medical technologist must surrender the certificate within thirty days after the decision becomes final; failure to surrender for inexcusable reasons results in perpetual disqualification from practice in the Philippines.
- Section 24 provides that suspension runs from the date the certificate is surrendered.
- Section 25 provides for appeal of revocation or suspension to the Civil Service Commissioner; the decision becomes final thirty days after promulgation unless the respondent appeals within the same period to the Office of the President of the Philippines.
- Section 26 authorizes the Board, upon application and for reasons deemed proper and sufficient, to reissue any revoked registration certificate.
- Section 26 provides that suspension is automatically lifted upon expiration of the suspension period, and the certificate is reissued to the medical technologist upon request, without prejudice to further Board action for violations of the Act or conditions imposed during suspension.
Criminal penalties for violations
- Section 29 imposes penalties “without prejudice” to the Medical Act of 1959 on illegal practice of medicine and punishes violations by a fine of not less than PHP 2,000 nor more than PHP 5,000, or imprisonment of not less than six months nor more than two years, or both, at the discretion of the court.
- Section 29(a) punishes any person who practices medical technology in the Philippines without being registered or exempted from registration under the Act.
- Section 29(b) punishes any medical technologist, even if duly registered, who practices without the necessary supervision of a qualified pathologist or physician authorized by the Department of Health.
- Section 29(c) punishes a medical technologist who knowingly makes a fraudulent laboratory report.
- Section 29(d) punishes any duly registered medical technologist who refuses or fails, after due warning by the Board, to display the certificate of registration in the place where he works.
- Section 29(e) punishes any person presenting or attempting to use as his own the certificate of registration of another.
- Section 29(f) punishes any person who gives false or fraudulent evidence to the Board or any member in obtaining a certificate.
- Section 29(g) punishes any person who impersonates any registrant of like or the same name.
- Section 29(h) punishes any person who attempts to use a revoked or suspended certificate of registration.
- Section 29(i) punishes any person who, in connection with his name or otherwise, assumes, uses or advertises any title or description tending to convey the impression that he is a medical technologist without holding a valid certificate.
- Section 29(j) punishes any person who violates any provision of the Act.
- Section 29(k) punishes any person or corporate body who violates Board rules and regulations or Board orders after they are duly approved and issued by the President upon recommendation of the Commissioner of Civil Service for carrying out the Act.
Separability and repealing rules
- Section 30 establishes a separability clause: if a provision or application is declared invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, the remainder is not affected.
- Section 31 repeals inconsistent prior laws and regulations but preserves non-repeal of specified medical and laboratory-related statutes under R.A. 2382 (as amended by R.A. 4224), R.A. 4688, and R.A. 1517.