AN ACT AMENDING REPUBLIC ACT NUMBERED FOUR HUNDRED SIXTY-FIVE ENTITLED "AN ACT TO STANDARDIZE THE EXAMINATION AND REGISTRATION FEES CHARGED BY THE NATIONAL EXAMINING BOARDS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled:
"Section 1. The provisions of existing law to the contrary notwithstanding, applicants for any of the licensure examinations conducted by any of the boards under the of Office of the Boards of Examiners shall pay examination fees as follows;
A. One hundred pesos:
1. Accountants
2. Agricultural Engineers
3. Architects
4. Chemical Engineers
5. Civil Engineers
6. Customs Brokers
7. Dentists, except Dental Hygienists
8. Electrical Engineers except Master Electricians
9. Electronics and Communications Engineers
10. Foresters
11. Geodetic Engineers
12. Licensing Contractors
13. Master Marine Officers, except Chief, Second Third Mates, Major, Minor or Harbor Bay Lake-River Patrons
14. Mechanical Engineers except Certified Plant Mechanics
15. Mining Engineers
16. Physicians except examinees for physicians' preliminary examinations
17. Sanitary Engineers
18. Chief Marine Engineers
B. Seventy-five pesos:
1. Chemists
2. Second Steam and Motor Engineers
3. Dietitians
4. Geologists
5. Medical Technologists
6. Naval Architects and Marine Engineers
7. Nurses
8. Optometrists
9. Pharmacists
10. Social Workers
11. Sugar Technologists
12. Veterinarians
13. Midwives
14. Chief Mates and Major Patrons
15. Master Plumbers or Plumbing Engineers
C. Fifty pesos:
1. Bay-River-Lake Motor Engineers
2. Harbor-Bay-River-Lake Patrons
3. Minor Patrons
4. Therapists
5. Master Electricians
6. Examinees for physicians' preliminary and final examinations
7. Dental Hygienists
8. Certified Plant Mechanics
9. Second and Third Mates
10. Third and Fourth Steam and Motor Engineers
Provided, That in cases where removal examinations are allowed, the examination fee shall be fifty per centum of ,the original fee prescribed under classifications A, B and C provided for under this section.
"Section 2. Every applicant for registration in any of the professions or occupations under regulation by the Office of the Boards of Examiners who passed the corresponding examination shall pay a registration fee of fifty pesos for those falling under class (A) ; forty pesos for those under ,class (B) ; and thirty pesos for those under class (C) provided in section one, except those in the marine examinations who are registered by the Philippine Coast Guard. An applicant for registration without examination shall pay also the amount corresponding to the examination fee of the profession or occupation applied plus the registration fee herein prescribed: Provided, That detailmen shall pay twenty pesos, mine or quarry foreman and chemical technician, thirty pesos: Provided, further, That applicants for registration who qualified in the examination given prior to the approval of this Act, shall pay the corresponding registration fee heretofore prescribed.1âшphi1
"Section 3. Every practicing professional or practitioner of any of the occupations regulated by the Office of the Boards of Examiners shall pay an annual registration fee of five pesos: Provided, That major or minor patrons,second third, or fourth motor or steam engineers, harbor-river-lake patrons, bay-river-lake-motor engineers, master electricians, certified plant mechanics, master plumbers, midwives, Chemical technicians and mine or quarry foremen shall pay two pesos: Provided, further, That licensed contractors and detailmen shall be exempt from the payment of the annual registration fee as they are required to renew their licenses or registrations annually. Failure to pay the annual registration fee on or before January twenty of the year next following the calendar year in which it is due, shall bear a surcharge of twenty .per centum for each calendar year in which payment has not been made: Provided, That after the lapse of five continuous years from the year it was last paid if the annual registration fee has never been paid, the delinquent's certificate of registration shall be considered suspended and his name shall be dropped from the annual roster for not having been in good standing and may be reinstated only upon application and payment of the fee herein provided for registration without examination. When a registered practitioner desires to stop practicing his profession, he shall inform the board concerned in writing within one year from the time he stopped practicing in order to exempt him from the payment of the annual registration fee: Provided, That when he intends to resume the practice of his profession, he shall likewise inform the board concerned in writing and pay the annual registration fee for the current year without any surcharge and his name shall be reinstated in the annual roster.
The annual registration card, at least for the calendar year immediately preceding, shall be presented to the collection agent of the Bureau of Internal Revenue when paying his professional tax and the registration numbers, date of issuance and the year shown on the card shall be indicated on the official receipt as evidence that the payor is authorized by law to practice the profession.
"Section 4. Every applicant for duplicate certificate of registration shall pay a fee of twenty-five pesos and for certifications or true copies of records with the official seal of the office or of the board concerned, two Pesos for the first one hundred words and in excess thereof fifty centavos for every one hundred words or a fraction thereof.
"Section 5. All examination, registration and other fees shall be paid to the collecting officer of the Office of the Boards of Examiners which shall be deposited in a special trust account to constitute the professional regulation special fund and which shall be expended solely for the operational expenses of the Office of the Boards of Examiners, for compensation of members of the board and salaries of officials and employees including the hiring of temporary personnel as the exigencies of the service require for the purchase, acquisition and improvement of equipment, furniture, and fixtures, motor vehicles, sites and construction of building for office spaces and examination halls, for conducting research to keep the office abreast with recent trends in the regulation of professions and occupations and in all other matters that would enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of the office.
"Section 6. Each Chairman and member of the Board of Examiners, whether a government employee or not, shall receive as compensation a fee not exceeding fifteen pesos per capita of the candidates examined or registered without examination, and a per diem not exceeding ten (P10.00) pesos for each day of attendance in administrative investigations and ocular inspections lasting not less than one hour at a time: Provided, That the total compensation of any Chairman or member shall not be less than three thousand six hundred pesos, but not more than twenty thousand pesos for participating in all examinations given by their respective board during the fiscal year. Any member whose term expires before the end of the fiscal year shall receive only the compensation equivalent to the dumber of candidates examined and/or registered without examination wherein he last participated or at the rate of five hundred pesos per month computed from of beginning of fiscal year until the last day of his term of office or until his successor shall have been appointed and qualified, whichever is higher: Provided, That the Chairman or member whose term expires before the result of the examination he last participated in is released shall be allowed to continue correcting his examination papers and to perform his other duties relative to the release of the results thereof until he shall have signed the certificate of registration of those who have qualified in the examination or were registered without examination, without additional compensation except those allowed herein, and that the full compensation due him shall be paid only after he shall have been cleared of all his responsibilities."
