
REVENUE MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR NO. 40-2019 issued on April 1, 2019 publishes the full text of Professional Regulation Commission Resolution No. 2019-1146, amending relevant provisions of Resolution No. 1032 s. 2017 (Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act No. 10912 known as the Continuing Professional Development [CPD] Act of 2016).
The CPD is made as a mandatory requirement in the renewal of the Professional Identification Card (PICs) of all registered and licensed professionals under the regulation of the Professional Regulation Commission. The PIC is renewable every three (3) years upon compliance with the requirements set by law.
There shall be a transition period to develop the necessary standards, processes, capacity, and infrastructure while minimizing the cost and inconvenience to professionals covered by the requirement. During the transition period, the following shall be observed:
a. Professionals working overseas shall not be covered by the CPD requirement.
b. Newly-licensed professionals shall not be covered by the CPD requirement for the first renewal cycle after obtaining their license.
c. The various CPD Councils shall reduce the required CPD credit units to a minimum, which shall not be more than fifteen (15), as provided for under applicable laws.
CPD Credit Units refer to the value of an amount of learning achieved from formal, informal or non-formal learning, including professional work experience wherein credits can be accumulated to predetermined levels for the award of a qualification. Provided, however, that the following shall not be covered during the transition period:
a. Where Professional Regulatory Laws of covered professions require compliance with specific number of CPD Credit Units for the renewal of the PIC.
b. Where the professional intends to practice the profession in countries covered by bilateral, regional or international agreements in which CPD is a recognition and eligibility requirement, such as the ASEAN Mutual Recognition Agreements.
All duly validated and recognized CPD credit units earned by a professional shall, among others, be accumulated and transferred in accordance with the pathways and equivalencies of the Philippine Qualifications Framework.
A CPD provider shall apply for accreditation of its program to the CPD Council. The CPD provider shall indicate the number of times the program will be offered for monitoring purposes.
An accredited CPD Provider of a particular profession may apply for accreditation of its program/s to the CPD Council of other professions subject to the approval of the CPD Council concerned.
In-house training programs and capacity-building activities of government agencies and government corporations, including local government units, and private employers shall be accredited and considered as CPD compliance of their employed professionals.
All CPD programs duly submitted for accreditation shall be deemed approved after ten (10) working days from receipt thereof if no feedback from the CPD Council is received.
Thereafter, the CPD providers shall be allowed to offer the same, provided, that the applicable rule of awarding of credits is strictly observed.
CPD providers with valid accreditation at the time this Resolution takes effect may still continue their public offering of CPD programs and award the corresponding CPD credit units approved by the concerned CPD Councils.
Professionals who executed an Undertaking prior to the effectivity of this Resolution shall only comply with the required number of credit units, as amended, pursuant to this Resolution equivalent to not more than fifteen (15) credit units.
The Professional Regulatory Boards and their respective CPD Councils are given a period of one (1) month to consult with their stakeholders for review of their Operational Guidelines and to accordingly amend the same to conform with this issuance. Those which have not issued their Operational Guidelines shall be guided by this issuance.