Philippine Agricultural Engineering Law

Scope, purpose, and covered activities

Section 2(a) defines “Agricultural Engineering” as a profession that applies mechanical, civil and electrical engineering principles to agriculture’s “peculiar conditions and requirements.”
Section 2(a) provides that the practice of agricultural engineering embraces:
- (1) farm power and machinery;
- (2) farm buildings and structures;
- (3) farm electrification and farm processing;
- (4) soil and water conservation, including farm irrigation and drainage, land clearing, flood control, soil erosion control, and related problems; and
- (5) education and research.
Section 10 establishes that registration for practice is not required for certain enumerated categories of engineers.
Section 28 prohibits the practice of agricultural engineering or self-representation as such without the required registration, subject to Section 10 exemptions.

Core definitions

Section 2(b) defines “Agricultural engineer” as a person who is a graduate of an agricultural engineering course from a school, institution, college or diversity duly recognized by the government.
Section 2(c) defines “Registered professional agricultural engineer” as a person duly registered with the Board of Examiners for Agricultural Engineers in the manner provided by the Act.

Board of Examiners—creation and powers

Section 3 requires that within thirty days after the approval of this Act, there shall be created a Board of Examiners for Agricultural Engineers (the Board).
Section 3 provides that the Board is composed of a Chairman and two members, appointed by the President of the Philippines with the consent of the Commission on Appointments.
Section 3 provides that members hold office for a term of three years and until successors are appointed and qualified.
Section 3 requires each Board member to qualify by taking the proper oath before performing duties.
Section 3 authorizes removal by the President for neglect of duty, incompetence, malpractice, unprofessional, unethical, immoral or dishonorable conduct, after the member is given opportunity to defend himself in a proper administrative investigation; it also allows suspension of the member under investigation with appointment of a temporary member.
Section 4 vests the Board with authority to:
- administer oaths;
- issue, suspend, and revoke certificates of registration;
- issue certificates of recognition to agricultural engineers already registered under the Act for advanced studies, research, and/or specialized training in any division of agricultural engineering, subject to Presidential approval;
- prescribe the curriculum for degrees in agricultural engineering, subject to the policies of the Board of National Education;
- investigate violations of the Act and regulations issued thereunder; and
- issue subpoenas and subpoenas duces tecum to secure witness appearance and document production in Board investigations.
Section 4 provides that subpoenas and other communications shall be issued under the signature of the Chairman and seal of the Board.
Section 4 provides that if any person refuses to obey a subpoena, refuses to testify, or refuses to produce documents, the Board shall petition the Court of First Instance; the Court shall issue an appropriate subpoena requiring appearance, testimony, and document production as deemed necessary by the Board; refusal to obey the subpoena or Court order may be prosecuted like refusal to obey any other subpoena or order of the Court.
Section 5 authorizes the Board to adopt rules and regulations necessary to carry out the Act, with the advice of the Commissioner of Civil Service and subject to the approval of the President; the Board’s rules may include penal provisions punishable by a fine of not more than five hundred pesos, imprisonment for not more than six months, or both.

Board member qualifications and compensation

Section 6 requires each Board member, at the time of appointment, to be:
- a citizen of the Philippines and a resident;
- at least thirty years of age and of good moral character;
- a graduate of agricultural engineering or agriculture with a major in agricultural engineering from a recognized and legally constituted school/institution;
- a registered agricultural engineer authorized to practice in the Philippines (with a proviso that this qualification is not required for the first appointees);
- practiced agricultural engineering for not less than five years prior to appointment; and
- not a member of the faculty of any school where agricultural engineering is taught, nor have a pecuniary interest in such institutions.
Section 6 provides that a former faculty member may become a Board member only if he stopped teaching for at least two consecutive years prior to appointment.
Section 7 sets Board compensation at twenty-five pesos for each person examined, or registered without examination.
Section 7 provides that a government employee appointed as a Board member receives the Board compensation in addition to regular salary.

Examinations, registration, and certificates

Section 8 makes the Commissioner of Civil Service the Executive Officer of the Board and requires the Commissioner to conduct examinations under rules and regulations issued under Section ten of Act Numbered Four thousand seven, as amended; it also directs that the Bureau of Civil Service keeps all Board records, including examination papers, minutes of deliberations, and administrative proceeding/investigation records.
Section 11 requires that, except where expressly provided, all applicants for registration must pass a technical examination.
Section 12 requires that an applicant for admission to the agricultural engineering examination must establish to the satisfaction of the Board, prior to the examination date:
- at least twenty-one years of age;
- citizenship: Filipino;
- good moral character and reputation; and
- graduation from an agricultural engineering course from a government-recognized school/institution/college/university.
Section 13 provides that examinations are held in the City of Manila beginning on the second Monday of February and August of each year for four consecutive days; if those days fall on official holidays, the exam is held on the day next following.
Section 14 specifies the examination subjects and weights by percentages:
- Farm mechanization, farm power, farm machinery and equipment — 20%
- Soil and water conservation, farm irrigation and drainage — 20%
- Rural electrification, farm processing and farm structures — 20%
- Mathematics (algebra, plane trigonometry, analytics and calculus) — 10%
- Agronomy and animal husbandry — 10%
- Farm economics and farm management — 10%
- Agricultural marketing and farm statistics — 10%
Section 15 requires the Board to report ratings of each candidate to the Commissioner of Civil Service within one hundred twenty days after completion of the examination; the Commissioner must submit ratings with recommendations to the President for approval.
Section 16 allows registration without examination for applicants of good reputation and moral character who file within one year from the approval of this Act, if they meet any of the following:
- (a) at least thirty years of age on the date of approval of this Act, holders of Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Engineering, and had practiced agricultural engineering for at least six years prior to approval;
- (b) at least thirty-five years of age on approval date, holders of Bachelor of Science in Agriculture with major in agricultural engineering, and had practiced agricultural engineering for at least six years prior to approval;
- (c) at least thirty years of age on approval date, holders of Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Engineering or Bachelor of Science in Agriculture with major in agricultural engineering, and had passed government examination in agricultural engineering or mechanized farming for specialized and advanced studies abroad within agricultural engineering fields before approval; and
- (d) at least thirty years of age on approval date and holders of a certificate of membership in a duly recognized agricultural engineering society in a foreign country such as the American Society of Agricultural Engineers and the Institution of Agricultural Engineers of the United States of America and the United Kingdom, with the proviso that the certificate was granted upon compliance with similar requirements and that the same privilege is granted to citizens of the Philippines desiring to practice in that foreign country.
Section 17 requires the Board, upon payment of the corresponding fee, to issue a certificate of registration to:
- applicants who passed the examination; or
- applicants whom the Board, in its opinion, finds to possess the qualifications in Section 16.
Section 17 requires each certificate to show the registrant’s full name, serial number, be signed by the Chairman, attested by the Board’s Secretary, and authenticated by the Board’s official seal.
Section 18 requires persons issued certificates to take an oath before the Board or before any authorized person to administer oaths prior to engaging in practice.

Seal, use of seal, and refusal grounds

Section 19 requires all agricultural engineers to obtain a seal of design authorized and directed by the Board.
Section 19 requires inclusion of the certificate serial number in the seal design.
Section 19 requires plans and specifications prepared by, or under the first supervision of, a registered agricultural engineer to be stamped with the seal during the certificate’s effectivity.
Section 19 prohibits stamping/sealing a document after the registrant’s certificate has expired or been revoked, unless the certificate is renewed or reissued.
Section 20 requires the Board to refuse to issue a certificate of registration to any person:
- convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction of an offense involving moral turpitude;
- guilty of immoral or dishonorable conduct; or
- of unsound mind;
- and requires the Board to give the applicant a written statement of the reasons, which must be incorporated in the Board’s records.

Professional discipline and respondent rights

Section 21 establishes grounds for reprimand, suspension, or revocation of a registrant’s certificate, including:
- conviction for any criminal offense involving moral turpitude;
- immoral or dishonorable conduct;
- insanity;
- fraud or deceit in acquiring the certificate;
- gross negligence, ignorance, or incompetence in practice;
- addiction or habit-forming drug use rendering the registrant incompetent;
- false, extravagant, or unethical advertisement mentioning matters beyond the registrant’s name, profession, limitation of practice, office hours, office and home address;
- issuing statements or spreading news derogatory to another registrant’s character/reputation without justifiable cause;
- aiding/acting as a dummy of an unqualified or unregistered person to practice agricultural engineering; and
- violation of any provision of the Act or its rules and regulations.
Section 21 authorizes the Board to investigate or take cognizance of acts constituting sufficient cause on its own motion (motu proprio) or upon complaint under oath.
Section 22 grants the respondent the rights to:
- be represented by counsel or be heard personally;
- have speedy and public hearing; and
- confront and cross-examine witnesses against him.

Appeals, reinstatement, and replacement

Section 23 provides that the Board decision automatically becomes final thirty days after promulgation unless, within the same period, the respondent appeals to the Office of the President.
Section 23 provides that if the final decision is not satisfactory, the respondent may request a review of the case or file a petition for certiorari in court.
Section 24 authorizes the Board, for reasons it deems proper and sufficient, to:
- reinstate a suspended certificate; or
- issue another certificate in lieu of one revoked.
Section 24 provides that reinstatement/issuance may, at the Board’s discretion, exempt the applicant from taking another examination.
Section 24 requires that a new certificate to replace one lost, destroyed, or mutilated be issued subject to Board rules.

Registration exemptions and foreign reciprocity

Section 10 exempts registration from required practice for:
- agricultural engineers from other countries called in consultation only and exclusively in specific cases, or attached to international bodies/organizations and assigned definite work in the Philippines, provided they do not engage in private practice in their own account as agricultural engineers in the Philippines;
- agricultural engineers attached to the Armed Forces of the United States stationed in the Philippines while rendering services only for those forces and within the limits of territorial jurisdiction; and
- foreign agricultural engineers employed as exchange professors or instructors in recognized local schools/institutes/colleges/universities where a regular agricultural engineering course is taught.
Section 26 authorizes foreign applicants to be admitted to the examination notwithstanding the Filipino-citizenship requirement in Section 12, if they prove to the Board that their country’s law:
- admits Filipino citizens to practice agricultural engineering without restriction; or
- allows practice after passing an examination on terms of strict and absolute equality with citizens/nationals of that country, including unconditional recognition of prerequisite degrees granted by duly recognized institutions in the Philippines.

Fees and roster of engineers

Section 25 requires fees as follows:
- examination fee: seventy-five pesos for every applicant for examination;
- registration fee (after passing): twenty-five pesos;
- fee for those registered without prior examination: seventy-five pesos;
- fee for issuance of a new certificate in lieu of one lost, destroyed, or mutilated: five pesos.
Section 25 requires payment of these fees to the disbursing officer of the Bureau of Civil Service, and directs that the disbursing officer pay from receipts the authorized expenses of the Board, including compensation of Board members.
Section 25 provides that one-half of the examination fee shall be refunded if the applicant’s application is disapproved.
Section 27 requires the Secretary of the Board to prepare a roster of agricultural engineers beginning one year after approval, containing each registered engineer’s name and address, date of registration, and other data the Board deems pertinent.

Penal provisions and sanctions

Section 28 imposes penalties (alternative cumulative forms) on any person who commits any of the listed offenses:
- fine of not less than five hundred pesos nor more than three thousand pesos, or
- imprisonment for not less than one month nor more than two years, or
- both.
Section 28 makes punishable:
- practicing agricultural engineering or representing oneself as an agricultural engineer without a valid certificate of registration, for persons not exempt from registration under the Act;
- presenting or using as one’s own the certificate of registration issued to another person;
- giving false or forged evidence to a Board member to obtain a certificate of registration;
- using a revoked or suspended certificate of registration; and
- assuming, using, or advertising in connection with one’s name any title or description tending to convey the impression of being an agricultural engineer registered under the Act without a valid certificate.

Rules, reports, separability, and repeal

Section 5 requires adoption of rules and regulations by the Board with advice of the Commissioner of Civil Service and approval of the President; the rules may include penal provisions punishable by a fine not more than five hundred pesos, imprisonment not more than six months, or both.
Section 9 requires the Board to submit an annual report to the President after the close of each fiscal year, detailing Board proceedings during the year and including recommendations the Board deems proper.
Section 29 contains a separability clause: invalidity of a provision or its application does not affect the remainder of the Act or the application to other persons or circumstances.
Section 30 includes a repealing clause: all laws or parts inconsistent with the Act are repealed.