Senator Lito Lapid has filed Senate Bill No. 32 seeking to exempt qualified indigent Filipinos from paying professional licensure examination fees.
In filing his measure, Lapid said that with the passage of Republic Act 10687 or the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, the youth now have the chance to acquire a better future by obtaining a college degree for free.
However, the veteran legislator added that graduates need to pay fees to take professional licensure examinations.
“The fees range from P500 for civil service eligibility examinations with the Civil Service Commission to P600 for non-baccalaureate degree examinations with the Professional Regulatory Commission to P10,000 for the bar examinations,” the seasoned lawmaker said in his explanatory note.
“In many instances, graduates opt to delay taking the examinations to be able to save up.”
The senator furthered that in many instances, graduates opt to delay taking the examinations to be able to save up, which in turn diminishes the momentum they gained from the academe, making it more difficult for them to pass.
“Malaking bagay po sa pamilyang Filipino na magkaroon ng professional sa kanilang hanay.”
“Malaking bagay po sa pamilyang Filipino na magkaroon ng professional sa kanilang hanay. Hindi lamang po ito pinagmumulan ng karagdagang kabuhayan para sa kanila, ito ay nagbibigay karangalan at pag-asa sa kanila para sa lalong mabuting kinabukasan,” he said.
Under the bill, an examinee who wants to be exempted from the examination fee shall secure a certification from the Department of Social Welfare and Development that he/she is a qualified indigent.
Such certification shall be presented to the Professional Regulations Commission, the Civil Service Commission, or the Supreme Court of the Philippines, as the case may be, in lieu of the payment of examination fees.
“Makatutulong din po sa ating bansa na magkaroon ng mas maraming propesyunal na makapagpapataas ng kalidad ng ating workforce na kinikilala hindi lamang dito sa Pilipinas kundi sa buong mundo,” Lapid concluded.
