Licensure exams from July to Sept. ‘provisionally’ OK’d

MANILA – The conduct of licensure examinations for professionals from July to September this year has been “provisionally” approved, Malacañang said on Friday.

This, after the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) approved Thursday the request of the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) to administer the licensure examinations from July to September, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a press statement.

“The IATF provisionally approved the conduct of professional licensure examinations for July to September 2021, subject to conditions,” Roque, also acting as IATF-EID spokesperson, said.

Roque said the PRC’s health and safety protocols and the observance of minimum public health standards should be observed.

He said the PRC, along with the Department of Health and the Philippine National Police, should issue guidelines to ensure the orderly conduct of licensure examinations.

He added that the community quarantine classification should be taken into consideration.

The PRC has postponed several licensure examinations for professionals due to the threat posed by the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

PRC chairman Teofilo Pilando Jr. in February said the commission was only able to conduct 11 examinations last year compared to the 83 examinations conducted in 2019.

Licensure examinations for aspiring real estate consultants, master plumbers, real estate brokers, nurses, mining engineers, master plumbers, and environmental planners are scheduled in July.

Aspiring psychologists, mechanical engineers, certified plant mechanics, architects, psychometricians, veterinarians, guidance counselors, medical technologists, social workers, are scheduled to take the examinations in August.

The licensure examination for sanitary engineers is scheduled for August 31 and September 1 to 2.

The PRC is set to hold licensure examinations for professional teachers, registered electrical engineers, registered master electricians, librarians, physicians, foreign medical professionals, respiratory therapists, real estate appraisers, professional teachers, and agricultural and biosystems engineers in September.