Solon presses implementation of ASEAN agreement

Lawmakers are urging President Aquino to hasten the full implementation of the Mutual Recognition Agreements/Arrangement (MRAs) entered into by the Philippines with Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states to facilitate mobility of medical professionals, architects, engineers and accountants within the region in preparation for the ASEAN integration by 2015.

House Resolution 1482, which sought the issuance of A Memorandum Circular to fully implement the MRAs entered by the ASEAN Member States such as the Brunei-Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines (BIMP-EAGA) and other ASEAN Member States affecting eight professions in the country was recently adopted subject to form and style by the special House Committee on East ASEAN Growth AREA (EAGA), chaired by TUCP party-list Rep. Raymond Democrito C. Mendoza.

The eight professional services include Engineering Services, Nursing Services, Architecture, Surveying, Medical Practice, Dental Practice, Accountancy and Tourism Services.

ABS party-list Rep. Catalina G. Leonen-Pizarro said the MRAs, which were concluded separately from December 9, 2005 to November 9, 2012, should have been implemented to facilitate mobility of practitioners with the ASEAN region and to exchange information and enhance cooperation in respect of mutual recognition of practitioners.

She said the agreements will also promote adoption of best practices on standards and qualifications; and will also provide opportunities for capacity building and training of practitioners.

Since December 15, 1995, the ASEAN has recognized and emphasized the growing importance of trade in services through the adoption of the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services (AFAS) by the ASEAN Economic Ministers during the 5th ASEAN Summit in Bangkok, Thailand, according Leonen-Pizarro’s resolution.

The party-list lawmaker explained the AFAS seeks “to substantially eliminate restrictions to trade in services among ASEAN Member States, enhance cooperation in services, liberalize trade in services, and promote efficiency and competitiveness of ASEAN service suppliers.”

“It establishes the general guidelines for mutual recognition, denial of benefits, dispute settlement, institutional mechanism and other areas of cooperation in the services sector,” she added.

Article V of the AFAS provides “that the ASEAN Member States may recognize the education or experience obtained, requirements met, and licenses or certifications granted in other ASEAN Members States, for the purpose of licensing or certification of services suppliers,” the resolution said. - by Charissa Luci - Manila Bulettin

Pres. Aquino urged to hasten full implementation of ASEAN accords on professional services

The Philippines has yet to fully implement the Mutual Recognition Agreements/Arrangement (MRAs) entered into among Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states covering eight professional services.

The special House Committee on East ASEAN Growth AREA (EAGA), chaired by Hon. Raymond Democrito C. Mendoza (Party-List, TUCP), has adopted, subject to form and style, House Resolution 1482 authored by Hon. Catalina G. Leonen-Pizarro (Party-List, ABS).

HR 1482 is entitled a "Resolution urging the Executive Department thru H.E. President Benigno S. Aquino III to issue a Memorandum Circular to fully implement the MRAs entered by the ASEAN Member States such as the Brunei-Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines (BIMP-EAGA) and other ASEAN Member States affecting eight (8) professions in the country, including Engineering Services, Nursing Services, Architecture, Surveying, Medical Practice, Dental Practice, Accountancy and Tourism Services, ensuring enhancement measures and safety nets in the light of the ASEAN integration in 2015."

Leonen-Pizarro cited the following objectives behind the MRAs: 1) to facilitate mobility of practitioners with the ASEAN region; 2) to exchange information and enhance cooperation in respect of mutual recognition of practitioners; 3) promote adoption of best practices on standards and qualifications; and 4) to provide opportunities for capacity building and training of practitioners.

The eight professional services of which the Philippine Government is a signatory under an MRA with the ASEAN were concluded separately from December 9, 2005 to November 9, 2012, the author noted.

She recalled that since December 15, 1995 the ASEAN has recognized and emphasized the growing importance of trade in services through the adoption of the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services (AFAS) by the ASEAN Economic Ministers during the 5th ASEAN Summit in Bangkok, Thailand.

The AFAS aims to substantially eliminate restrictions to trade in services among ASEAN Member States, enhance cooperation in services, liberalize trade in services, and promote efficiency and competitiveness of ASEAN service suppliers.

The AFAS establishes the general guidelines for mutual recognition, denial of benefits, dispute settlement, institutional mechanism and other areas of cooperation in the services sector, she pointed out.

Article V of the AFAS, the House Resolution noted, provides that the ASEAN Member States may recognize the education or experience obtained, requirements met, and licenses or certifications granted in other ASEAN Members States, for the purpose of licensing or certification of services suppliers.

Leonen-Pizarro also noted that during the 9th ASEAN Summit held on October 7, 2003 in Bali, Indonesia, ASEAN Heads of States/Governments signed the Bali Accord II and declared the establishment of an ASEAN Community which comprises the political, economic, and security communities to include the completion of MRAs for qualifications for major professional services by 2008 to facilitate free movement of professional/skilled labour/talents in the ASEAN.

Furthermore, the author cited Executive Order No. 83, issued by the President on October 1, 2012, entitled "Institutionalization of the Philippine Qualifications Framework (PQF)" to, among other vital objectives, "align the PQF with international qualifications framework to support the national and international mobility of workers through increased recognition of the value and comparability of Philippine qualifications."

Above other laws and issuances related to professional services, the authors noted that "Art. XII (National Economy and Patrimony), Sec. 14 par. (2) of the 1987 Philippine Constitution provides that the practice of all professions in the Philippine shall be limited to Filipinos citizens, save in cases prescribed by law."

One vital reference statute on the subject is Republic Act No. 8981 otherwise known as the "PRC Modernization Act of 2000" which provides that Filipino and foreign professional practicing in the Philippines are regulated and screened by the Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC) which is attached under the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

By Dionisio P. Tubianosa, Media Relations Service-PRIB

ARMM employees await dialogue on employment status in new Bangsamoro region

COTABATO CITY, Philippines – Career service employees of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) eagerly look forward to a planned dialogue with lawmakers on the status of their employment in relation with the ARMM’s proposed replacement with a new Bangsamoro entity.

Members of the ARMM’s rank-and-file personnel, whose appointments were screened and attested by the Civil Service Commission (CSC), want officials of the commission to participate in the dialogue, too.

Lawyer Laisa Alamia, executive secretary of ARMM, on Thursday said Trade Union Congress of the Philippines Partylist Rep. Raymond Democrito Mendoza announced here last week that legislators will dialogue with regional officials and employees on employment concerns amid the impending creation of the Bangsamoro outfit based on the final peace compact between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Mendoza was among members of Congress that held consultations last week in Cotabato City and nearby provinces on the legal ramifications of the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), the enabling measure for the creation of a Bangsamoro government based on the government-MILF March 27, 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro.

“The supposed meeting was to take place this week. It must have been reset. We are just waiting for a notice toward that end,” Alamia said.

Employees of ARMM’s more than 40 line agencies and support offices, whose functions and powers were devolved by Malacanang to the regional government based on the region’s charter, Republic Act 9054, are apprehensive the transition, from the autonomous region to the MILF-led Bangsamoro government, will render them jobless.

Alamia said while ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman has continuously been assuring regional employees of protection from the CSC, their feelings and sentiments are something beyond the governor’s control.

“Even so, there is overwhelming support for the peace process from the ARMM’s personnel,” Alamia said.

Last week’s congressional consultations on the draft BBL in Central Mindanao were presided over by Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, chair of the ad-hoc House committee tasked to enact the bill into law.

The ARMM government has no fewer than 30,000 employees, more than half of them working in the region’s Department of Education. - By John Unson (philstar.com)

Cebu lawmakers: Consult more on the Bangsamoro proposal

Rep Raymond Menoza with BBL Ad Hoc Com hearing in Cotabato City - Oct 23

CEBU - Six Cebuanos in Congress said Saturday they support the government’s dream of a lasting peace in Mindanao, but would like to hear what their constituents think of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law.

Public consultations in Cebu may be held next month or in January 2015, said Representative Raymond Democrito Mendoza (Party-list, TUCP), one of the co-authors of House Bill 4994. He joined the 75 Mindanao district and party-list lawmakers for a public hearing in Cotabato City last Oct. 23.

“What is important is that we come to the table and try to find another solution, since the old solution which was pursued in the past 40 years has not ended the war,” Mendoza said.

Elections in 2016

Both the House and Senate versions of the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law were submitted last month, six months after the historic signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro by the Government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

The Aquino administration is working on the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law, as well as the plebiscite in the Bangsamoro core territories, before the end of 2015, so that the first set of officials can be elected in 2016.

Five of nine Cebuano district representatives said they have yet to go over the details of the draft law and consult constituents, and could not yet categorically say whether or not they will vote for the bill. (Mendoza, the only Cebuano co-author of the bill, does not represent a district, but a party-list organization.)

Autonomy

“Thousands have risked their lives to achieve an elusive goal: peace. The Bangsamoro Basic Law is geared to give life to the constitutional provision of granting local autonomy, especially to those areas where the government has failed to provide adequate service to the people,” said Representative Gerald Anthony Gullas (Cebu Province, First District).

But while he said he was inclined to vote in favor of the bill, “nevertheless, Congress, especially those who drafted the bill, must examine piece by piece its provisions so as not to make any offensive stance against the Constitution,” Gullas also said.

Representative Benhur Salimbangon (Cebu Province, Fourth District) said he needs to study it further, having received only recently a copy of the framework agreement.

“This (Bangsamoro law) will open up the possibility of shifting our form of government to a federal one,” said Salimbangon.

According to the drafts, the Bangsamoro Government, as an autonomous region, will have “legislative powers over such matters as administrative organization and ancestral domain, which are not granted to local government units.”

However, the President will exercise general supervision, and the National Government will continue to exercise power over, among others, national defense, security, foreign relations, monetary policy, and customs and tariffs, according to a primer provided by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process.

Transition

Representative Raul del Mar (Cebu City, North) said he will thoroughly go over the provisions of the bill, as well as the corresponding arguments, before taking a position.

Representative Joseph Ace Durano (Cebu Province, Fifth District) said he will study how the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law reconciles the creation of this new political entity with the constitutional provisions on the creation of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Armm), among others.

If the basic law is passed and ratified in a plebiscite, the ARMM will be deemed abolished. A Bangsamoro Transition Authority appointed by President Benigno Aquino III will serve as the interim government, until the Bangsamoro officials are elected and can assume office.

Representative Rodrigo Abellanosa (Cebu City, South) said he will vote in favor of the Bangsamoro Basic Law if it will prove to be useful in promoting peace and unity in the country.

Abellanosa said, though, that he has many questions about the draft law.

Questions

“As previously ruled by the Supreme Court when it invalidated the 2008 memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain proposed by the previous administration, recognizing an entity ‘in preparation for independence’ violates the national integrity provisions. Hence, the next question is, ‘Does this constitute a preparation for independence of the Bangsamoro?” he said.

The congressman said he will suggest that the law “explicitly state that the Bangsamoro remains bound within the framework of the Constitution and explicitly recognizes national sovereignty.”

Both House Bill 4994 and Senate Bill 2408 provide that the National Government will retain its power over defense and external security, foreign policy, monetary policy, citizenship, postal services, immigration, some aspects of customs and tariff supervision, common market and global trade, and intellectual property rights.

The National and Bangsamoro Governments, according to the bills, will share some powers, including the power over social security, land registration, the penitentiary, auditing, civil service, justice, disaster risk reduction and management, and public order and safety.

The historic signing last March of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro capped negotiations that started in January 1997, facilitated beginning in 2001 by the Government of Malaysia.

By Elias O. Baquero, Isolde D. Amante and Princess Dawn H. Felicitas - SunStar