Most professionals were thrilled to hear that President Rodrigo Duterte pushed for the amendment of the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Law in his State of the Nation Address (SONA) broadcasted live on Monday afternoon.
In his speech, Duterte called on Congress to amend the controversial CPD law which was authored by his nemesis former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV in 2016.
“I also call on Congress to amend Republic Act No. 10912 or the Continuing Professional Development Act of 2016. In this time of great pandemic and forthcoming reconstruction, requiring a professional to undergo seminars is burdensome and not realistic. This must end,” Duterte emphatically said.
The President reasoned out that the CPD Law is costly, especially for those professionals in the provinces who need to go to Manila to earn CPD units in compliance with the requirements of their professions.
“Ito pang isa. There are professions that they would require them to come Manila to retrain for another round of expenses. Itong mga seminar-seminar has to stop,” he added.
Based on the CPD Law, professionals need to earn CPD units by attending seminars, training, and other learning tracks or programs as a requirement for the renewal of their Professional Identification Card or the PRC license card.
Duterte statements on CPD is a clear support on the move of his son Congressman Paolo of Davao City, who filed a bill last May which seeks for the repeal of the CPD Law.
Paolo said that the CPD Law is against the interest of the professionals.
“While we support 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. 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,” he said.
