PRC set to open more services for local, overseas professionals

THE Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) will increase its walk-in examinations from twice to thrice a week as well as open the examinations to more professions as part of its programs for 2012.

PRC chairperson Teresita Manzala added that regionalized ID printing and issuance of ID cards through the PRC's 10 regional offices or kiosks situated in public places will also be done in line with the agency's move to bring its services closer to the people.

A PRC career employment counseling program will also be initiated to support the DOLE's career guidance advocacy, which will help address the mismatch between skills supply and skills demand, she said.

A PRC-Commission on Higher Education two-way link, which aims to enable applicants to apply for licensure examinations in their respective schools, would also be implemented in pilot regions to eliminate long queues at the PRC.

Professional Regulatory Boards (PRBs), meanwhile, were urged to extend their presence overseas.

The PRBs should address the concerns of overseas-based professionals and should reach out to these professionals by establishing dynamic linkages with their professional organizations overseas, particularly wherever there are high concentrations of such professionals notably in Australia, Japan, the US and the UK, Manzala added in a statement furnished Sun.Star.

The program is an offshoot of the Department of Labor and Employment's yearend 2011 report, which disclosed that prospects for overseas employment remain positive in 2012 in spite of the multiple challenges in the global labor market.

The reported said that new hires among overseas Filipino workers in 2011 rose by 27.26 percent over the 2010 deployment while rehires increased by 3.53 percent. The increase in deployment in new hires indicates an increase in new jobs for OFW's. (CGC)