The
Commission for Filipinos Overseas (CFO) has shared – through Fil-Am veterans
advocate and community leader Eric Lachica – the results of their investigation
following a blog article we posted earlier this week “Fil-Am medical missioners
question PRC fees for absent licenses”.
Evelyn
Duriman, CFO medical mission coordinator, wrote this report for Eric, which we
are posting “in toto”.
“I wish to
inform you that upon checking with Ms. Sarah Ducat of the International Affairs
Division (IAD) of the Professional Regulation Commission, Dr. Simeon Sevandal
and three other members of the Philippine Medical Association in Chicago (PMA
in Chicago), applied for renewal of their Philippine licenses under Category F
or Foreign Professionals under Presidential Decree No. 541 ‘Allowing Former
Filipino Professionals to Practice their Respective Profession in the
Philippines’.
“Under
Category F, applicants are required to submit to the Registration and Licensing
Division of the PRC the following documents along with the required renewal
fees and other charges:
“Passport
showing name, picture, citizenship and date of entry in the Philippines
“Original
and photocopy of the previously issued Professional Identification Card;
“Duly
authenticated original and photocopy of the License/Certificate of
Registration/Permit in the adopted country; and
“Four (4)
Passport size ID pictures.
“I was
also informed by Ms. Ducat that while Dr. Sevandal and other members
of the PMA in Chicago have been issued Special Temporary Permits (STP)
for them to be able to conduct their scheduled medical mission to Surigao City,
their licenses were not renewed due to the non-submission of some required
documents, i.e. passports and the proof of the date of entry in the Philippines.
“In order
for the PRC to process and eventually release their licenses, kindly advise
them to submit said documents.
“For
further clarifications on the PRC licenses and STP, they may also directly
communicate with the International Affairs Division of the PRC (copied to us)
with the following contact details:
“Atty.
Teresita Manzala, Chairperson, Professional Regulation Commission, P. Paredes St. Manila
“Best
regards, Evelyn Duriman, Project Management Division, Commission on Filipinos
Overseas”
We thank
Eric and CFO’s Mely Nicolas for looking into the Fil-Am medical missioners’
complaint.
In his
report to Health Department Asst. Sec. Madeleine Valera, Dr. Sevandal had
alluded to the apparent confusion from new rules being enforced by the PRC on
volunteer Fil-Am doctors rendering free clinics for indigent Filipinos back
home.
“I applied
for license renewal in 2011 for the Vigan (Ilocos Sur) mission and applied
again for this mission, costing me $160 yet I did not get my license due to the
requirement just promulgated by the PRC that I should be a citizen,” Dr.
Sevandal said.
“They did
not refund me the amount I paid,” he added and revealed that three other
doctors who accompanied him in a medical mission in Surigao City
Ms.
Duriman’s account did not explain why the PRC failed to refund the license fees paid by Dr. Sevandal for 2011 and 2012 or why this was never fully explained to him.
One Fil-Am
engineer said he wanted to renew his civil engineering license (as required by
the new PRC rules) so he can volunteer his skills building school buildings in
the Philippines
The Fil-Am
professionals we’ve talked to say they understand (but not necessarily agree
with) the rationale behind the PRC rules, that they’re meant to deter
malpractice. But they lament that the government appeared woefully unprepared
to carry out the mandate it’s imposed on itself.
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