CREATING THE PROFESSIONAL REGULATION COMMISSION AND PRESCRIBING ITS POWERS AND FUNCTIONS.

WHEREAS, the regulations of the various professions
presently regulated by the Office of the Boards of Examiners is so extensive,
practically covering all social and economic life of the country;

WHEREAS, the existence of the Boards of Examiners is
misconstrued for a number of years now as nothing more than an examining unit,
though all the professional laws creating the various Boards have charged them
with the supervision and regulation over the professional practice in the
Philippines; and

WHEREAS, to effectively enforce the laws regulating the
various professions, there is an urgent need to create a three-man Commission to
administer, implement, coordinate and supervise the various Boards of
Examiners;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the
Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution as
Commander-in-Chief of all the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and pursuant to
Proclamation No. 1081, dated September 21, 1972, and General Order No. 1, dated
September 22, 1972, as amended, do hereby order and decree:

SECTION 1. Professional Regulation Commission. —
There is hereby created a three-man Commission to be known as the Professional
Regulation Commission which shall be attached to the Office of the President for
general direction and coordination.

SEC. 2. Composition. — The Commission shall be
headed by one fulltime Commissioner and two fulltime Associate Commissioners,
all to be appointed by the President for a term of nine (9) years without
reappointment to start from the time they assume office, except the first two
Associate Commissioners who shall be appointed, one for six (6) years and the
other for three (3) years, and thereafter, any vacancy in the Commission shall
be filled for the unexpired term only with the most senior of the Associate
Commissioners succeeding the Commissioner at the expiration of his term,
resignation or removal. No person shall be appointed chairman or member of the
Commission unless he is at least forty (40) years of age, familiar with the
principles and methods of professional regulation and/or licensing and has at
least (5) years of executive or managerial experience.

SEC. 3. Exercise of powers and functions of the Commission.
The Commissioner, who shall be the Chairman of the Commission, and the Associate
Commissioners as members thereof shall, as a body, exercise general
administrative, executive and policy-making functions for the whole agency.

SEC. 4. Compensation. The Commissioner shall receive an
annual compensation of forty-eight thousand pesos (P48,000) with five hundred
pesos (P500) commutable transportation and representation allowances and the
Associate Commissioners, thirty-six thousand pesos (P 36,000) each with three
hundred and fifty pesos (P350) commutable transportation and representation
allowances.

SEC. 5. Powers of the Commission. The powers of the
Commission are as follows:

a) To administer, implement and enforce the regulatory policies of the
National Government with respect to the regulation and licensing of the various
professions and occupation under its jurisdiction including the maintenance of
professional and occupational standards and ethics and the enforcement of the
rules and regulations relative thereto;

b) To perform any and all acts, enter into contracts, make such rules and
regulations and issue such orders and other administrative issuances as may be
necessary in the execution and implementation of its functions and the
improvement of its services;

c) To review, coordinate, integrate and approve the policies, resolutions,
rules and regulations, orders or decisions promulgated by the various Boards
with respect to the profession or occupation under their jurisdictions including
the results of their licensure examinations but their decisions on
administrative cases shall be final and executory unless appealed to the
Commission within thirty (30) days from the date of promulgation thereof;

d) To administer and conduct the licensure examinations of the various Boards
according to the rules and regulations promulgated by it; determine and fix the
places and dates of examinations; appoint supervisors and room examiners from
among the employees of the Government or private individuals who have been
trained by the Commission for that purpose who shall be entitled to a daily
allowance of not less than ten pesos (P10) for every examination day actually
attended; use the buildings and facilities of public and private schools for
examination purposes; and approve the release of examination results;

e) To keep and maintain a register of the authorized practitioners of the
profession or occupation; issue certificates of registration or licenses signed
by all the members of the Board concerned and the Commissioner with the official
seal of the Board affixed;

f) To have custody of all the records of the various Boards including their
examination papers, minutes of deliberation, records of administrative cases and
investigations and examination results;

g) To determine, fix and collect the amount to be charged for examination,
registration, registration without examination, licenses, annual registration
fees, certifications, surcharges and other fees not specified under the
provisions of Republic Act No. 6511 or amend the rates provided
thereunder subject to approval by the Office of the President;

h) To appoint, subject to the provisions of existing laws, such officials and
employees of the Commission as are necessary in the effective performance of its
functions and, responsibilities, prescribe their duties and fix their
compensation; and to organize or reorganize the structure of the Commission,
create or abolish positions, change the designations of existing positions to
meet changing conditions or as the need therefor arises: Provided, That
such changes shall not affect the employment status of the incumbents, reduce
their ranks and/or, salaries nor result in separating them from the
services;

i) To submit and recommend to the President of the Philippines nominees for
appointment as members of the various Boards from among those nominated by the
bona fide professional organizations accredited by the Commission to fill
existing or probable vacancies;

j) The Commission may, upon the recommendation of the Board concerned,
approve the registration of and authorize the issuance of a certificate of
registration with or without examination to a foreigner who is registered under
the laws of his country: Provided, That the requirements for the
registration or licensing in said foreign state or country are substantially the
same as those required and contemplated by the laws of the Philippines and that
the laws of such foreign state or country allow the citizens of the Philippines
to practice the profession on the same basis and grant the same privileges as
the subjects or citizens of such foreign state or country: Provided,
finally, That the applicant shall submit competent and conclusive
documentary evidence, confirmed by the Department of Foreign Affairs, showing
that his country’s existing laws permit citizens of the Philippines to practice
the profession under the rules and regulations governing citizens thereof. The
Commission is also hereby authorized to prescribe additional requirements or
grant certain privileges to foreigners seeking registration in the Philippines
if the same privileges are granted to or same additional requirements are
required of citizens of the Philippines in acquiring the same certificates in
his country;

k) The Commission shall have general supervision over foreign nationals who
are authorized by existing laws or granted special permits to practice their
professions temporarily in the Philippines to see that the terms and conditions
for their employment are strictly observed and adhered to;

1) To prescribe or revise, in conjunction with the Board concerned and the
Secretary of Education and Culture or his authorized representative, collegiate
courses the completion of or graduation from which shall be a prerequisite for
admission into the practice of the profession concerned;

m) To exercise general supervision over the members of the various
Boards;

n) To promulgate such rules and regulations as may be necessary to
effectively implement policies with respect to the regulation and practice of
the professions;

o) To perform such other functions and duties as may be necessary to carry
out effectively the various provisions of professional regulatory laws, decrees
or orders.

SEC. 6. Powers, functions and responsibilities of various
Boards. The various Boards shall retain the following powers, functions and
responsibilities:

a) To look from time to time into conditions affecting the practice of the
profession or occupation under their respective jurisdictions and whenever
necessary, adopt such measures as may be deemed proper for the enhancement of
the profession or occupation and/or the maintenance of high professional,
ethical and technical standards and for this purpose the members of a Board may
personally or through subordinate employees of the Commission conduct ocular
inspection or visit industrial, mechanical, electrical or chemical plants or
works, hospitals, clinics and other engineering works where registered
practitioners of the profession or occupation are employed or are working for
the purpose of determining compliance with the provisions of laws relative to
the practice of the profession or occupation or as an aid in formulating
policies relative thereto in accordance with the established policies
promulgated by the Commission;

b) To investigate violations of their respective laws and the rules and
regulations promulgated thereunder and for this purpose may issue summons,
subpoena and subpoena duces tecum to alleged violators or witnesses thereof and
compel their attendance to such investigations or hearings;

c) To delegate the hearing or investigation of administrative cases filed
before them except in cases where the issue involved strictly concerns the
practice of the profession or occupation, in which case the hearing shall be
presided by at least one member of the Board concerned assisted by a legal or
hearing officer of the Commission;

d) To promulgate decisions on such administrative cases subject to review by
the Commission. If after thirty (30) days from the receipt of such decision no
appeal is taken therefrom to the Commission, the same shall become final and
immediately enforceable;

e) Subject to review by the Commission, to approve registration without
examination and the issuance of the corresponding certificates of
registration;

f) After due process, to suspend, revoke or reissue certificates of
registration for causes provided for by law or by the rules and
regulations promulgated therefor;

g) To determine and prepare the contents of licensure examinations; score and
rate the examination papers and submit the results thereof to the Commission
within one hundred twenty (120) days after the last examination day unless
extended by the Commission; and, subject to approval by the Commission,
determine the appropriate passing general rating if not provided for in
the law regulating the profession.

SEC. 7. Names of various Boards. — The names of the
various Boards shall be changed by the Commission by deleting the word
“Examiners.”

SEC. 8. Transfer of personnel, funds, records, etc.
—The present office of the Boards of Examiners, its personnel, funds, records,
supplies, equipment, materials, furniture, and fixture are hereby transferred to
the Commission.

SEC. 9. Repealing clause. — The provisions
of Republic Act No. 546 are hereby repealed as well as those of other pertinent
laws inconsistent herewith.

SEC. 10. Effectivity. — This Decree shall take
effect immediately.

Done in the City of Manila, this 22nd day of June, in the year of Our Lord,
nineteen hundred and seventy-three.

			(Sgd.) FERDINAND E. MARCOS President Republic of the Philippines
	By the President:
	(Sgd.) ROBERTO V. REYES
		Assistant Executive Secretary