The Professional Regulation Commission

The Professional regulation commission at 36: Advocating Stronger politics to Ensure Integrity of Licensure Examination The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) was created on June 22,1973 by virtue of Presidential Decree No. 233 issued by President Ferdinand E. Marcos. Its first Commissioner was Architect Eric C. Nubla, who assumed ofÏce on January 2, 1974 . It also started issuing certificates of registration in Filipino with English translation and computerizing the database of its registered professionals that year. In 1977, the Commission conferred the first “Outstanding Professinal of the year” awards to professionals and started issuing registration cards that were valid for three years. On December 20, 2000, the PRC Modernization Act(Republic Act No. 8981) re-defined the directions PRC as a government agency tasked to promote the sustained development of a corps of competent Filipino professionals. In 2006, the PRC was placed under the administrative supervision and control of the Department of Labor and Employment. The Commission supervises 23 Professional Regulatory Boards (PRBs) which regulate the profession’s and accredit the professional organizations representing the professionals. The PRBs regulate the practice of more than two million registered Filipino professionals. Through the portals of PRC pass hundreds of thousands of aspiring professionals who take licensure examinations every year. The PRC marks its 36th Founding anniversary in the service of Filipino Professionals Worldwide on June 16-22, 2009. The celebration will showcase the major reforms that the Commission has initiated in year 2009 and will feature the awarding of the Most Outstanding Professional and Professional Associations in recognition of their significant contributions to the notion and the Filipino people. Adopting the theme “Strengthening the Image of PRC on Integrity, Transparency and Competence”, the PRC at 36, is continuously advocating stronger policies to ensure the validity, reliability, and integrity of licensure examinations in accordance with Her Excellency President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s directive to establish a closer linkage with the education and industry sectors. The new stewardship aims to sustain the progressive momentum of the agency as it aspires to be a resilient, progressive, and respected institution that nurtures world class professionals. 2009 Eight Key Directions of the Commission Decentralization of functions, authority and resources to regional ofÏces Decentralization and empowerment of regional ofÏces are vital to promote the Commission’s thrusts in delivering services at the field level. The regional ofÏces account for 60 percent of the total Commission transactions and 45 percent of total revenue collections. In 2007, the regions accounted for 49 percent of examinees, and 51 percent of IDs processed. To further enhance service delivery, the following are devolved to regional ofÏces: hiring of service contactor/job order personnel, procurement of certain ofÏce supplies and equipment like printers, implementation of ofÏce systems automation, printing of professional ID cards, payment of salaries of contractual personnel, and the release of regional MOOE budget on a quarterly basis. Crucial to decentralization is augmentation of manpower. Devolution of functions cannot be achieved if the regional ofÏces are undermanned. Commissioner Nilo L. Rosas is taking the lead in having the Rationalization Plan approved. The focus is the upgrading of PRC regional ofÏces in terms of stafÏng. Another goal is to create more field ofÏcer position items to establish more field ofÏces in farflung provinces. For 2009, the Commission started the groundwork to expand the Walk-in Examinations for other professions, particularly the Nurses and Professional Teachers, in the regions. Restructing of the Central and Regional The restructuring of the Central and Regional OfÏces will involve the delegation of some of the Chairman’s oversight functions to the Commissioners. For one, the Central OfÏces will be supervised the Commissioners. This also entails the rationalization of project management over IT projects. For the regional ofÏces, the restructuring will be aimed at supporting the decentralization thrust which will be outlined in the regional operations manual. Resource Mobilization or Resource Generation The fourth key Direction is resource mobilization or resource generation. This means generating more income in support of the fiscal targets of the Arroyo Administration. Thus, the Commission is bound to set income targets and provide incentives to top revenue grosser. Improve Institutional image The Commission is also aiming to improve and enhance the institutional image of the agency by promoting a positive outlook on the Commissions accomplishments, efforts, and constraints. The public and the stakeholders – the schools, the professionals, accredited professionals – should be involved to support the key directions of the Commission whose, positive image should be based on solid accomplishment and integrity. Test Development and Administration Her Excellency, President Arroyo has time and again directed the PRC to work closely with the industry Sector in updating licensure examinations. Likewise, she directed the Commission to work closely with the Commission on Higher Education to avoid overlaps, and to revise the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the PRC Modernization Act to reflect these directives. To this end, the Commission will enhance the validity and reliability of licensure examinations, by looking at best practices, here and abroad. Technical assistance through grants should be considered. Research and development capability should be strengthened to develop tests that are relevant to the topics covered, measure the competencies and skills that are supposed to be measured and reflect the present scientific and technical competency demands of the industry. ISO Certification The fifth Key Direction IS towards ISO Certification. The President has required all government agencies to move towards ISO certification. This is to improve the quality of services to world-class level and to institutionalize PRC’s modernization programs. PRC Modernization Law Amendment The objective is to put proposed amendments to the PRC Modernization Law on the legislative agenda of Congress. Commissioner Ruth Raña Padilla spearheaded the move to accomplish this task. The amendments will hopefully strengthen further the regulatory mandate and functions of the Commission. Completion and Closure of ISSP Projects The completion and closure of ISSP Projects will up the cudgel for replicating the system in regional ofÏces in order to realize their intended benefits. NCLEX IN MANILA OPEN BY MID-YEAR Jarius Bondoc Pop the champagne and pray in thanksgiving. The Philippine bid to hold the US nursing licensure exam in Manila succeeded. Filipino nurses who wish to work in America no longer must travel abroad, burning hundreds of dollars, just to take the NCLEX (Nursing Council Licensure Examination). They can do it in Manila starting mid-2007. Other Asians may, too, as an unintended boost for Philippine tourism. The good news came Thursday evening as the exhausted delegation from Manila, led by Commission on Filipinos Overseas head Dante Ang, was about to sup. President Faith Fields of the Us National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN), as NCLEX , announce a unanimous decision. It capped two hours of grilling earlier on Philippine assurances of exam security and housecleaning after fraud marred its own nursing board tests last June. Ang quickly informed President Arroyo of the event. Manila news outlets called to confirm. The persistence of Filipinos on both sides of the Pacific finally paid off. The first step to nursing job placement in America will now be cut in cost by at least half. The Philippine Nurses Association in America (PNAA) first broached the idea in2002 of NCLEX locating in Manila. The NCSBN at that time was mulling to open the licensing test outside the US and its territories in two years. For PNAA past President Filipinas Lowery and present president Rosario May Mayor, it was only logical that Manila be among the pilot areas. After all, Filipinos have always formed the bulk of examinees – over 9000 or 35 percent per year in the 1990s. (That figure jumped to more than 15000 o 60 percent last year.) The closest and thus cheapest to reach test site back then was Saipan, for which examinees had to pay $200 exam fee and $600 for fare, food and lodging. Locating the exam in Manila would mean paying only the basic $200-fee plus $150 for foreign processing, but no more overseas travel. They would be able to use the savings to review. All easier said than done, though . Too frequent were reports of coups and kidnapping in Manila, making the NCSBN hesitant. Software piracy was also rampant, worrying NCLEX examiners about tricksters simply memorizing their questions to transform into nursing school lectures. In 2004 the only new sites opened were London, Seoul and Hong Kong In Mar. 2005 Ang joined the NCLEX effort, raising it to an ofÏcial venture with the PNAA and the Philippine Nurses Association in the homeland. He got the US embassy and American Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines to support the Manila testing location. NCSBN ofÏcials were invited to Manila for a First-hand look at facilities, physical and software Licensing Examination was being given troublefree in Manila, but also the CGFNS (Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools) tests to qualify for the NCLEX. Most telling was the work ethics of Filipino nurses, the reason they comprise 83 percent of foreign nurses in America and are the most preferred by hospitals, doctors’ clinics and care homes For good measure, Ang suggested to President Arroyo the formation of an interagency Task Force-NCLEX, consisting of his CFO, and reps from the PNA, the Professional Regulatory Commission’s Board of Nursing, the labor ofÏce, NBI or PNP, and association of nursing school deans. The group had just been formed on July 31, 2006, when news broke that the nursing board test of the previous month was marked by question leakage. To make matters worse, at least two nursing board members and PNA ofÏcers who owned review centers were implicated. As if that were not enough, the PRC at first denied the leakage, and when examinees came forward to confess to benefiting from leaks, GOTCHA By JARIUS BANDOC ACADEMIC ENTREPRENEURSHIP Senator Edgardo J. Angora The Internet search engine Lycos began as a research project by a professor at the Carnegie Mellon University in 1994. Five years later, it became the most visited site in the world, with a global presence in more than 40 countries. All over the world, governments are showing greater interest in university spinoffs. European governments are pouring resources into universities with the goal of turning them into engines of economic growth through spinoff company formation. The Japanese government recently changed its intellectual property laws to favor spinoff company formation. As countries progress from agricultural economies to technological ones, it becomes crucial for them to accelerate research and development led by their universities. But more importantly, they must translate their technological findings into industrial development. This helps the country shift from a production-based to an innovationbased economy. In developed countries, governments recognize that granting R