FOURTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC) 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
) 
-{ 
Fly -2 
~ 
I 1  
First Regular Session 
1 
Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
The Constitution, Article XII, Section 14, provides: 
The sustained development of a reservoir of national talents 
consisting of Filipino scientists, entrepreneurs, professionals, 
managers, high-level technical manpower, and skilled workers and 
craftsmen in all fields shall be promoted by the State. 
P.D. No. 223, created the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) which is tasked to 
administer, implement, and enforce regulatory policies of the national government with respect 
to the regulation and licensing of the various professions and occupations under its jurisdiction, 
including the maintenance of professional and occupational standards and ethics and the 
enforcement of the rules and regulations relative thereto. 
According to the National Statistics Office (NSO), there are more than forty (40) 
recognized professions in the country. Each of these professions has their own organizations or 
associations. Unfortunately, many professionals, for some reason or another, fail to become 
members of such organizations or associations. Thus, these professionals are unable to avail of 
benefits given to members. 
This bill seeks to address this problem by mandating that all examinees who pass the 
PRC licensure examination shall automatically become members of their respective accredited 
professional organization upon compliance with the membership requirements.' 
' This bill was originally filed during the Thirteenth Congress, First Regular Session, 


1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
7 
8 
9 
10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
15 
16 
17 
18 
19 
20 
21 
22 
23 
FOURTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUsLlC) 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
1 
First Regular Session 
) 
SENATE 
S. No. 
Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago 
AN ACT 
PROVIDING FOR AUTOMATIC MEMBERSHIP OF PROFESSIONALS 
IN THEIR RESPECTIVE ACCREDITED PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS 
Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in 
Congress assembled: 
SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be cited as the “Automatic Professional 
Membership Act of 2007.” 
SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy. - The State shall enhance, promote, and protect 
various professional disciplines and towards this end, shall unify and strengthen the bond 
amongst all professionals and shall encourage their active involvement and participation in 
organizations or societies which will serve as vehicles for nurturing and enhancing the standard 
of practice of their profession, thereby ensuring the contribution of professionals to the 
upliftment of the general welfare, economic growth, and development of the nation. In pursuit of 
these objectives, automatic membership of professionals in their respective accredited 
professional organizations shall be required. 
SECTION 3. Accredited Professional Organization. - There shall be one professional 
organization for each profession which shall be accredited by the Professional Regulation 
Commission (PRC), herein referred to as the Commission, which shall serve as the umbrella 
organization for all professionals in their respective profwsions. The establishment of this 
accredited professional organization shall not be a bar to the formation and continued existence 
of other voluntary organizations which may co-exist with the accredited professional 
organization. Duly accredited professional organizations now existing shall continue to be 
recognized as such by the Commission. 
1 


1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
1 
8 
9 
10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
15 
16 
17 
18 
19 
20 
21 
22 
23 
24 
25 
26 
21 
Each Accredited Professional Organization (APO) shall coordinate and work together 
with their respective Professional Regulatory Board (PRB), here referred to as the Board, in the 
exercise of its function for the effective enhancement of their profession particularly in the 
promotion of programs and activities which will advance and foster excellent and globally 
competitive professionals in their respective fields of expertise. 
The functions and responsibilities of the APO are as follows: 
(A) Maintain an updated roster of membership in the organization; 
(B) Enforce rules and regulations for membership in good standing; 
(C) Organize, conduct, and accredit continuing professional education and training 
programs for its members; 
@) Monitor and supervise the activities and operations of organizations belonging under 
APO; 
(E) Assist the Board in monitoring and ensuring that members maintain the highest 
professional competence and comply at all times with their professions’ Code of 
Ethics; 
(F) Report and recommend sanctions to the Board on illegal and malpractice cases of the 
profession; 
(G) Assist the Board in enforcing compliance with member registration and renewal of 
licenses; 
(H) Select, evaluate, and submit to the Commission nominees to fill up any vacancies in 
the Board; 
(I) Assist the Board in the preparation, adoption, and issuance of syllabi or tables of 
specifications of the subjects for licensure examinations; 
(J) Assist government agencies in activities related to the delivery of services and 
improvement of the professionals and the profession; and 
(K) Perform such other functions and responsibilities normally performed by accredited 
professional organizations 
2 


1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
7 
8 
9 
10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
15 
16 
17 
18 
19 
20 
21 
22 
23 
24 
25 
26 
SECTION4. Automatic Membership. - All examinees who pass the PRC licensure 
examinations and who have been issued a Certificate of Registration and a Professional License 
or Certificate of Competency, as the case may be, shall automatically become members of their 
respective accredited professional organizations upon compliance with the membership 
requirements. All professionals, whose names now appear in the roster of professionals or who 
may hereafter be included, upon registration and payment of required fees, shall automatically 
become members of their respective accredited professional organization and shall be issued a 
certificate of membership. Professionals with more than one profession shall automatically be 
considered as members of all the appropriate APOs under the same terms and conditions 
provided herein. 
A Certificate of Membership in Good Standing from each respective APO shall be 
presented by the professional to the Commission before the latter may renew his license to 
practice his profession. 
SECTION 5. Inactivation of Membership. - The Accredited Professional Organization 
shall consider a member under inactive status in the event that the member decides to 
discontinue the practice of the profession, in which case, his name shall not be dropped from the 
roster of membership, provided, however, that if he wants to resume the practice of the 
profession, he shall follow the procedure and requirements for registration for new members of 
the organization. 
SECTION 6. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - The Professional Regulation 
Commission shall formulate the necessary implementing rules and regulations within ninety (90) 
days after the approval of this Act in consultation with the representatives of the existing 
accredited professional organizations and professional regulatory boards. 
SECTION 7. Separability Clause. - If any provision or part hereof is held invalid or 
unconstitutional, the remainder of the law or the provision not otherwise affected shall remain 
valid and subsisting. 
3 


1 
2 
3 
SECTION 8. Repealing Clause. - Any law, presidential decree or issuance, executive 
order, letter of instruction, administrative order, or rule or regulation contrary to or inconsistent 
with the provisions of this Act is hereby repealed, modified, or amended accordingly. 
4 
5 
SECTION 9. Effectivity Clause. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its 
publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation. 
6 
Approved, 
4