The proposed “Philippine Fisheries Profession Act” in House Bill 8844 may soon be enacted as the Senate has adopted it as an amendment to Senate Bill 1641 on May 20, 2019, before the sine die adjournment of the Third Regular Session of the 17th Congress.
The copy on the consolidated version of the two measures will be transmitted to President Rodrigo Duterte for his approval.
HB 8844 was authored by former Rep. Gary Alejano of the Magdalo Party-list, while SB 1641 is authored by Senators Loren Legarda and Cynthia Villar.
The bill recognizes that the government will provide a program to set up an appropriate and healthy environment for the practice of the fisheries profession, as well as establish quality standards for fisheries professionals that will guide schools, through the Commission on Higher Education, for the development of curricular programs.
In his explanatory note, Alejano said schools continue to offer fisheries courses without upgrading their facilities and have employed the same faculty, many of whom were not trained for college teaching.
“It is imperative to screen and standardize the quality of fisheries graduates, regulate the practice of fisheries profession throughout the country and prevent the practice of foreign professionals without permit,” he said.
The Professional Regulatory Board of Fisheries will be established and will be composed of a chairman and four members, who must all be registered professionals and issued with certificates of registration and professional identification cards.
The board will undertake the following powers and functions: (a) promulgate, adopt and issue regulations to carry out the provisions of this measure; (b) administer and supervise the licensure examination; (c) supervise and regulate the licensure, registration and practice of the profession; (d) register and issue certificates of registration to successful examinees; (e) look into conditions affecting the fisheries profession; (f) ensure that all educational institutions comply with the standards and requirements of the CHED; (g) hear administrative cases involving violations of this proposed Act; and (h) prepare, adopt and issue the syllabi of the subjects for the licensure examinations, among others.
