Presidential son and House Deputy Speaker Paolo Duterte said Wednesday he would file a bill to repeal the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) law authored by Senator Antonio Trillanes IV.
Paolo Duterte called the “Continuing Professional Development Act of 2016” of R.A. 10912 “uncalled for” and “anti-professional.” The law requires all professionals to earn CPD units through seminars and training before they could renew their Professional Identification Card.
“This CPD law is uncalled for. To address this, we will file a bill repealing this anti-professional measure introduced by Trillanes,” Duterte said in a statement.
The law “refers to the inculcation of advanced knowledge, skills, and ethical values in a post-licensure specialization or in an inter- or multidisciplinary field of study, for assimilation into professional practice, self-directed research and/or lifelong learning.”
“While we support the lifelong learning among our professionals to further their craft, the requirements set by the CPD law just adds to the burden they have to deal with,” Duterte said.
“After a long day of work, they are forced to spend a bulk of their salary, take absences from work, and go through unreasonable hardships just so they can renew their licenses and continue the practice of their professions,” the solon added.
Also read: President Duterte’s son denies role in drug smuggling syndicate
Paolo Duterte wants to repeal Trillanes’ CPD law
Paolo Duterte said that the government could help professionals meet global standards “without passing the burden to them.”
“Our proposed measure is also to serve as gratitude to our professional frontliners who continuously render their service to our nation, especially in this time of crisis. We have witnessed the selfless acts of our professional frontliners. They do not deserve the CPD law,” Duterte said.
This is not the first time a move to repeal the CPD law was made. In 2018, four bills in the House of Representatives and five senate bills were filed to repeal or amend the said law.
“It has been over two years since Republic Act 10912 became law, but the Professional Regulation Commission has failed to properly implement the law,” Bagong Henerasyon Rep. Bernadette Herrera-Dy said.
Meanwhile, at least 43,000 Filipino professionals have signed an online petition to revisit the CPD law in 2017.
“I totally sympathize with our professionals as they go through the growing pains of this new Continuing Professional Development (CPD) law,” said Senator Antonio Trillanes IV in 2018.