Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Constitution Hills, Quezon City

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. 5358

Introduced by the Representative Salvador B. Belaro, Jr.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This Act is intended to correct the existing treatment of a Bachelor of
Laws (L.L.B.) or a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree as being just equivalent to an
undergraduate degree at a minimum or a Masters degree (M.A.) at most in
matters relating to employment, qualifications, ranking and promotions in the
academe, civil service and related fields.

Instead, this Act proposes that a graduate of an LLB or JD course should,
for the aforementioned services be treated as being equivalent to having a
Doctorate degree (PhD) or its equivalent.

The proposed treatment is just considering that the regular LLB course
requires the completion of at least 134 units while the JD curriculum requires
154 units. On the other hand, a non-law student who finishes both an M.A
degree and a PhD only needs to take at most 45 units for his or her MA and an
additional units of at least 90 units for his or her PhD or a total of only 135 units
for finishing both MA and PhD.


With the advent of ASEAN Integration, this proposed correction in the
treatment of our legal professionals will further boost their employability within
the ASEAN Region as it will serve as a further incentive to them.

ae

SALVADOR B. BELARO JR.
Representative
1-Ang Edukasyon Party List


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Constitution Hills, Quezon City

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. 5358

Introduced by Representative Salvador B. Belaro, Jr.

AN ACT
EQUATING THE TREATMENT OF LLB AND JD DEGREES TO A
PhD DEGREE IN THE ACADEME, CIVIL SERVICE AND RELATED
FIELDS

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 known as the “Law Degree
Equivalency Act of 2017”.

SEC. 2. Statement of Policies.

(a) The State affirms labor as a primary social economic force and it is its
duty to protect the rights of workers and promote their welfare.

(b) _ It is likewise the policy of the State to promote the sustained development
of a reservoir of national talents consisting of Filipino professionals and skilled
workers, among others.

(c) It is likewise a State policy to afford full protection to labor, local and
overseas, organized and unorganized, and to promote full employment and
equality of employment opportunities for all.


SEC. 3. Equivalence of LLB or JD degree to PhD — It is herein mandated that
henceforth, a Bachelor of Laws or a Juris Doctor degree shall be treated as an
equivalent of a Doctorate degree or PhD for the purpose of hiring, determining
qualifications, ranking applicants and/or candidates for a particular position and
other related purposes in the academe, civil service and other related fields.

SEC.4. The Commission on Higher Education (CHED), in collaboration with
the Department of Education, Civil Service Commission (CSC) and the
Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE shall be tasked to formulate the
rules and regulations necessary to implement this Act.

SEC. 5. The funds necessary to carry out the provision of this Act shall be
included in the General Appropriation Act of the year following its enactment
into law and thereafter.

SEC. 6. All laws, orders, issuances rules and regulations or parts thereof
inconsistent with any provisions of this Act are hereby repealed, modified or
amended accordingly.

SEC. 7. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved.