DOLE: Pinoys abroad can now take PRC exams without going to PHL

Starting this year, Filipinos abroad can take board licensure examinations without having to return to the Philippines, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said on Wednesday.   DOLE Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said the Professional Regulation Commission's (PRC) revised guidelines allow Special Professional Licensure Board Examinations (SPLBE) for OFWs.   “The new guidelines (for SPLBEs) is our way of bringing PRC programs and services closer to the people. It simplifies and makes faster official transaction with the PRC,” Baldoz said in a news release.   The PRC, an attached agency of the DOLE, has been conducting SPLBE overseas since 1997 to let qualified OFW applicants take licensure exams while residing and working abroad.   PRC Resolution No. 2011-627 directs the PRC and the Professional Regulatory Boards (PRBs) to conduct SPLBE with the help of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) through its embassies and consulates and the DOLE, through its Philippine Overseas Labor Offices (POLOs), Baldoz said.   Under the new guidelines, applicants can submit requests for SPLBE through the overseas professional organizations.   Applicants may also personally submit requests to Philippine embassies or consulates through the POLOs.   Pre-registration   “The POLOs will conduct a pre-registration of OFW-applicants in coordination with the overseas professional organizations or FILCOMs to determine the number of examinees expected to take the SPLBE,” said PRC chairperson Teresita Manzala.   After pre-registration, she said embassies, consulates or the POLOs shall submit to the PRC data on the number of pre-registered OFW-applicants at least three months before the proposed dates of examinations.   The PRC shall then determine the dates and venues of examinations in coordination with the PRBs and this shall be communicated to the concerned embassies/consulates or POLOs, which can also recommend the venues.   Manzala said the dates of the examinations will be:  

• For countries in the Middle East, during the observance of religious holidays;
• For other countries, as requested by Philippine embassies/consulates and as approved by the Commission.

  Interested OFW-applicants wishing to take the SPLBE may download application forms for the examinations from the PRC Website, www.prc.gov.ph and submit the accomplished forms, together with the documentary requirements, to the POLOs for initial evaluation/screening.   POLOs may request assistance of APOs/FILCOMs to check completeness of documents and establish the identity of applicants. - VVP, GMA News