A consolidated measure seeking to lengthen the validity of professional identification cards issued by the Professional Regulation Commission from three years to five has cleared the House of Representatives on second reading.
The bill, which consolidates nine separate House measures filed in the 20th Congress, was reported out by the Committee on Civil Service and Professional Regulation under the chairpersonship of Rep. Laarni Lavin Roque. Among those consolidated into the substitute bill are measures introduced by Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez, Bohol Rep. Kristine Alexie Tutor, and Ilocos Norte Rep. Angelo Marcos Barba, among others.
Under the bill’s key provision, all Professional Identification Cards issued by the PRC shall be valid for five years, subject to compliance with all legal and procedural requirements for their issuance. The current validity period stands at three years.
The measure also sets a deadline: the PRC’s Information and Communication Technology Service and other concerned offices shall complete necessary systems upgrades — specifically to the Licensure Examination Registration Information System, or LERIS — along with other administrative processes, including revised annual registration fee assessments, within six months of the law’s effectivity.
The bill’s stated objectives include spreading out the number of renewing professionals over five years instead of three, to reduce annual renewal transactions and ease pressure on the PRC’s appointment system.
Proponents argue that extending the validity period will benefit more than four million registered professionals across various industries and aligns with broader government efforts to modernize public services and reduce bureaucratic bottlenecks.
Tutor, who led the push for similar legislation in the 19th Congress before it stalled in the Senate, had vowed to refile the measure in the 20th Congress, describing bills on professions and civil service as “necessary to energize the economy.”
The bill takes effect 15 days after publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.
