News is circulating around that Senate Bill No. 2073, purportedly an act to abolish the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Act of 2016 or R.A No. 10912 is being pushed in the Senate.

This is to clarify that the abovementioned is a newly filed pending Senate Bill and still has to pass through the required deliberation, including the counterpart measure in the House of Representatives, before it could amend an existing law.

CPD is essential for any professional to deliver services that comply with the latest standards of quality, efficiency, safety, among others.  It also ensures compliance with regulatory laws, and international commitments by professionals.

PRC and the Professional Regulatory Boards have put in place initiatives to address issues of affordability and accessibility.  Guidelines are being prepared to standardize seminar fees, crediting of professional activities and online courses.

From the enactment of RA 10912, employers and government agencies are encouraged to be CPD providers so that existing capacity building activities could be part of CPD compliance by the personnel/employee.  By September 2018, there are 1,617 CPD Providers and 34,156 CPD Programs accredited. Moreover, informal learning and professional work experience will now be considered as additional sources of credit units subject to the submission of a proof of participation and a narrative of learning outcomes.  Applications for Renewal of Professional Identification Cards (PICs) until the end of 2019 are accepted even without full CPD compliance, provided the applicant undertakes to complete his/her compliance. 

The foregoing initiatives and accomplishment have been undertaken despite the fact that CPD has been unfunded since the implementation of the said law.

Please refer to our website for further updates on the implementation of CPD.