Continuing Professional Development Act of 2016

Issuance authority and effectivity rule

Republic Act No. 10912 was approved on July 21, 2016 and later lapsed into law on JUL 21 2016 without the President’s signature under Article VI, Section 27 (1) of the Constitution.
The effectivity of Republic Act No. 10912 follows fifteen (15) days after complete publication in the Official Gazette or in two (2) newspapers of general circulation in the Philippines (Section 19).
Section 1 requires that the Act be known as the “Continuing Professional Development Act of 2016.”

CPD programs for regulated professions

Section 4 requires CPD Programs to be formulated and implemented in each of the regulated professions.
Section 4 mandates CPD Programs to: enhance and upgrade competencies and qualifications pursuant to PQF, AQRF, and ASEANMRAs; ensure international alignment through career progression mechanisms leading to specialization/sub-specialization; and develop quality-assured mechanisms for validation, accreditation, and recognition of formal, nonformal, and informal learning outcomes, including professional work experiences and prior learning.
Section 4 directs CPD Programs to ensure maintenance of core competencies and development of advanced and new competencies to respond to national, regional, and international labor market needs.
Section 4 requires CPD Programs to recognize and ensure professionals’ contributions in uplifting general welfare, economic growth, and national development.
Section 5 provides that CPD Programs consist of structured to nonstructured activities having learning processes and outcomes.
Section 5 enumerates CPD Programs activities including Formal learning, Nonformal learning, Informal learning, Self-directed learning, Online learning activities, and Professional work experience.

PRC and PRB implementation roles

Section 6 requires the PRC and the Professional Regulatory Boards (PRBs) to undertake overall implementation of the CPD Programs.
Section 6 empowers the PRC and PRBs to: organize CPD Councils for each regulated profession and promulgate guidelines for their operation; review existing and new CPD Programs for all regulated professions; formulate, issue, and promulgate guidelines and procedures for implementation of CPD Programs; and coordinate with the academe, concerned government agencies, and other stakeholders.
Section 6 requires coordination with concerned government agencies to develop mechanisms and guidelines for the grant and transfer of credit units earned from learning processes and activities under the Act.

CPD Councils and their composition

Section 7 creates a CPD Council in each of the regulated professions, supervised by the concerned PRB.
Section 7 provides each CPD Council has a chairperson and two (2) members.
Section 7 requires the chairperson to be a PRB member chosen by the concerned PRB to sit in the CPD Council.
Section 7 requires the first member to be the president or officer of the AIPO/APO duly authorized by its Board of Governors/Trustees; if absent, the PRB must submit within ten (10) working days a list of three (3) recommendees from national professional organizations, and the PRC designates the member within thirty (30) days from receipt of the list.
Section 7 requires the second member to be the president or officer of the national organization of deans or department chairpersons of schools, colleges, or universities offering the licensure-examination course; if absent, the PRB must submit within ten (10) working days a list of three (3) recommendees from the academe, and the PRC designates the member within twenty (20) working days from receipt of the list.
Section 7 makes the chairperson’s term coterminous with incumbency in the PRB unless sooner replaced by the PRB through a resolution subject to PRC approval.
Section 7 sets that first and second members have a term of two (2) years unless sooner replaced by resolution of the AIPO/APO concerned or the organization of deans or heads of departments; members appointed by the PRC may be replaced before the end of the two-year period upon recommendation of the PRB through a resolution.

CPD Council functions and Secretariat

Section 8 requires each CPD Council to ensure adequate and appropriate provision of CPD Programs for its profession.
Section 8 requires each CPD Council to evaluate and act on applications for accreditation of CPD Providers and their CPD Programs.
Section 8 requires each CPD Council to monitor and evaluate implementation of the CPD Programs.
Section 8 requires each CPD Council to assess and/or upgrade accreditation criteria for CPD Providers and their CPD Programs on a regular basis.
Section 8 requires each CPD Council to develop mechanisms for validation, accreditation, and recognition of self-directed learning, prior/informal learning, online learning, and other learning processes through professional work experience.
Section 8 requires each CPD Council to conduct researches, studies, and benchmarking for international alignment of CPD Programs.
Section 8 requires each CPD Council to issue operational guidelines with approval of the PRC and the PRB concerned.
Section 9 creates a CPD Council Secretariat at the PRC Central and Regional Offices to provide technical, administrative, and operational support to CPD Councils and PRBs.
Section 9 provides that the Secretariat is headed by an Executive Director appointed by the PRC.

Mandatory CPD, credit recognition, and career progression

Section 10 makes CPD mandatory for the renewal of the PICs of all registered and licensed professionals under PRC regulation.
Section 11 requires that all duly validated and recognized CPD credit units earned by a professional be accumulated and transferred in accordance with Pathways and Equivalencies of the PQF.
Section 12 requires the PRC and PRBs, in consultation with the AIPO/APO, the Civil Service Commission (CSC), other concerned government agencies, and industry stakeholders, to formulate and implement a Career Progression and Specialization Program for every profession.
Section 12 states that the Career Progression and Specialization Program forms part of the CPD.
Section 13 requires concerned government agencies and private firms and organizations employing professionals to include CPD as part of their human resource development plan and program.

Funding, IRR, fraud penalties, and final provisions

Section 14 requires implementation of the Act to be immediately included in PRC programs, with funding included in the PRC’s annual submissions for inclusion in the annual General Appropriations Act.
Section 14 directs that funding requirements be used for regular operations of CPD Councils, including monitoring conduct of CPD Programs.
Section 14 requires the PRC to review and approve the proposed budget for each CPD Council, considering reasonable expenses for travel, honorarium/allowances, and per diems when attending official CPD Council meetings or performing other related functions.
Section 15 requires the PRC and PRBs, in consultation with AIPO/APO and other stakeholders, to promulgate the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) within six (6) months from the effectivity of the Act.
Section 15 allows each PRB to prescribe requirements or procedures relating to CPD for its profession, provided these do not contravene the Act and its IRR.
Section 16 provides that fraudulent acts relating to implementation and enforcement are punishable under the Revised Penal Code, the New Civil Code, and other applicable laws.
Section 16 requires that, in addition to penalties under those laws, a professional found guilty of fraudulent acts relating to CPD shall be meted the penalty of suspension or revocation of the PRC Certificate of Registration and/or Certificate of Specialization.
Section 16 requires that a government official or employee who is a party to any fraudulent act relating to CPD be subject to administrative penalties under anti-graft laws, the Administrative Code, and the Code of Conduct of Public Officials and Employees.
Section 17 provides separability: if any part is declared invalid or unconstitutional, the remaining provisions remain in full force and effect.
Section 18 repeals or modifies inconsistent laws, decrees, executive orders, and other administrative issuances or parts thereof.

Legislative history and relation of bills

Republic Act No. 10912 originated from Senate Bill No. 2581 (approved by the Senate on August 3, 2015) and was adopted as an amendment to House Bill No. 6423 by the House of Representatives on May 23, 2016.