Solon hopes bill removing exam fees for qualified indigents gets House attention

(FILE) Rep. Paolo Duterte —PHOTO BY DAVAO CITY INFORMATION OFFICE

MANILA, Philippines — A lawmaker has sought for the passage of a bill he filed, which seeks to remove professional and bar examination fees for qualified indigents, to ensure that financial woes would not hinder career aspirations.

In a statement, Davao City 1st District Rep. Paolo Duterte said that he and Benguet Rep. Eric Yap hope that their colleagues at the House of Representatives would “swiftly act on the bill so that it could  soon  benefit indigents who will take the licensure examinations.”

Duterte and Yap filed House Bill No. 4927 or the proposed Free Professional Examinations Act last September 2022, but it has been pending with the House Committee on civil service and professional regulation.

“Since the sole purpose of licensure examinations is to determine whether one has  enough knowledge and experience  to perform his or her chosen profession,  being unable to pay the licensure exam fees should not be a barrier for any exam taker,” Duterte and his co-author, Benguet Rep. Eric Yap said on Thursday.

Duterte said that as of now, the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) charges between P450 to P1,050 for examinees of various licensure exams, while the Civil Service Commission (CSC) payment for the Career Service Examination for Professional and Sub-Professional Levels is at P500.  Meanwhile, the non-refundable Bar Application Fee is at P12,800.

But if the bill is enacted, indigent students would only need a certification from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).  This would be then forwarded to either the PRC, CSC, or the Supreme Court (SC) in case of bar examinations.

If enacted, all four offices — DSWD, PRC, CSC, and SC — would be tasked to cooperate with the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) to conduct an information campaign on the benefits of the law.

These offices would also be required to report the effectiveness and social impact of the law.

Duterte said the fees only add to the financial burden of graduates who have shelled out money throughout their education, and who would need to spend more for the exams.

“For some who have been struggling to afford education, the added expense of a professional examination is an outright burden. Since the sole purpose of licensure examination is to identify those eligible with enough knowledge and experience necessary to perform the tasks on the job safely and competently, financial capacity or lack thereof must not serve as a barrier for graduates to take the exam,” the lawmakers said.

“This bill seeks to provide for the free professional examinations to qualified indigents to level the playing field amongst all future professional examination takers. This shall enable our graduates from low-income families to overcome the financial barrier to becoming a professional in their chosen field,” they added.

This is not the first time that such a bill was filed in Congress.  Last July 2019 or at the first regular session of the 18th Congress, Senator Lito Lapid filed a similar bill that would exempt indigent college students from paying fees.

The bill, however, was not acted upon before the 18th Congress’ session ended.

READ: Lapid wants poor college graduates spared from gov’t professional exams fees 

JPV