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Opening of Regional Testing Center for Civil Engineering Licensure Board Exam:
A Case Study for Improving and Adding Suggestions on the
Republic Act No. 544 Article III Section IX
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Opening of Regional Testing Center for Civil Engineering Licensure Board Exam:
A Case Study for Improving and Adding Suggestions on the
Republic Act No. 544 Article III Section IX

The Republic Act No. 544 or, the Civil Engineering Law, becomes a law in the
year 1950. Seven decades have already passed, and we can't deny the fact that plenty of
things have already changed. It changes from the industry demands of Civil Engineers
to the threat of health of the soon-to-be Civil Engineers.

In this case study, I would like to discuss the opening of Regional Testing
Centers for the next Civil Engineering Board Exams. It had clearly stated in the
Republic Act No. 544 Article III Section IX that the Civil Engineering Board Exam will
be at Manila City. Later on, things have changed, and other testing centers have been
open in some of the countries' major cities like Baguio, Cagayan de Oro, Davao, Iloilo,
Legaspi, Lucena Tacloban, Tuguegarao, and Zamboanga. That, however, gives the fresh
graduates Civil Engineering Students more options and convenience to take the Board
Exam.

Due to the reasons for the opening fairness of opportunity to all Civil
Engineering Graduates even in the far-flung regions and Nations under the State of
Emergency because of the current pandemic, I now present my justifications why there
is a need for an opening a Regional Testing Centers for Civil Engineering Board Exam.

For the background of my case study, I reviewed the past Civil Engineering
Board exams from May 2015 up to November 2019 then I found out that from May
2015 to November 2019, in the official page of the PRC (Philippine Regulatory
Commission) that there is an increasing amount of students who take the board exam
from time to time. And among the reviewed past Civil Engineering Board exams,
November 2018 has the most numbered participating schools who took the board exam
with 275 participating schools nationwide.

Inline on the November 2018 Civil Engineering Licensure Board Exam of the
following regions they have the following participating schools and takers; in National
Capital Region has 34 participating schools with 2379 takers; in Cordillera
Administrative Region has 13 participating schools with 705 takers; in Ilocos Region
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has 14 participating schools with 801 takers; in Cagayan Valley Region has 13
participating schools with 727 takers; in Central Luzon Region has 25 participating
schools with 1904 takers; in Calabarzon Region has 30 participating schools with 1215
takers; in MIMAROPA Region has 11 participating schools with 426 takers; in Bicol
Region has 19 participating schools with 817 takers; in Western Visayas Region has 20
participating schools with 740 takers; in Central Visayas Region has 22 participating
schools with 854 takers; in Eastern Visayas Region has 19 participating schools with
784 takers; in Zamboanga Peninsula Region has 10 participating schools with 515
takers; in Northern Mindanao Region has 12 participating schools with 486 takers; in
Davao Region has 11 participating schools with 681 takers; in SOCCSKSARGEN
Region has 14 participating schools with 476 takers; in Caraga Region has 7
participating schools with 187 takers; and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in
Muslim Mindanao has a 3 participating schools with 151 takers (Philippine Regulatory
Commission, 2018).

One that took my interest, upon checking out the ratio of the fresh graduate Civil
Engineering Students to the students who took the board exam for the past five
simultaneous years, it is has observed that there are only a few Civil Engineering
Students graduates from far-flung regions that are taking a board exam. These include
the BARMM(Bangsamoro Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao), the Caraga
Region, the MIMAROPA Region, the Northern Mindanao Region, and even the
SOCCSKSARGEN Region with only had less than 500 takers during November 2018
Civil Engineering Board Exam.

The reason why these regions have only a few takers might be unique to every
student. And the common reasons would vary to financial and lack of support in which
students aren't able to afford the cost-of-living during the review or even can't afford to
pay their fare to take the board exam. If we open up Regional Testing Centers, there are
high possibilities that we are also opening new and fair opportunities to all the Civil
Engineering fresh graduates from the far-flung regions across the archipelago to take a
board exam and to have their legal license to practice their studied profession.

It will also open up new business opportunities, especially in the field of the
education side of Civil Engineering. Having Regional Testing Centers also means the
opening of Regional Testing Review Centers. And it could be a newly established
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review center or even a franchise and expansion of the already established review
centers that could be beneficial to review center owners and students.

Another reason why there is a need to open a Regional Review Center is because
of the nation's current situation because of the pandemic. Corona Virus 2019 is one of
the major factors that changed the pace of life of all people. And concerning the Civil
Engineering Board Exam, the Corona Virus Pandemic had already been postponed three
sessions of the Civil Engineering Board Exam. This postponed board exam includes
May 2020, November 2020, and May 2021.

The reasons why the PRC (Philippine Regulatory Commission) postponed the
said examinations is due to the government-imposed restrictions and other
unforeseeable circumstances because of extended community quarantines and to ensure
the health and safety of the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) examinees,
Professional Regulatory Boards (PRBs) and examination personnel (Philippine
Regulatory Commission, 2020). Besides, most major cities' testing centers are also
known to be a hotspot of virus contamination. These cities are Manila City, Cebu City,
and Davao City (Department of Health, 2019).

Pandemic complete response and solution might take too long but, we should not
compromise our Civil Engineering graduates to wait for that long time. One of the
remedies that I can see to address this situation is to open a Regional Testing Center. If
we have at least one testing center per region, all Civil Engineering graduates can now
possibly take the board exam within their respective regional testing centers, and
crossing by region borders to take a board exam will not be necessary. And if these
takers are just within their regional testing centers, there is no need to undergo a
mandatory quarantine because they will not cross other region borders. In line with the
opening of regional testing centers, if the board exam takers are going to take an exam
at their respective region's population will be controlled because the Professional
Regulation Commission (PRC) examinees, Professional Regulatory Boards (PRBs), and
examination personnel will be not congested in a concentrated place. It also means that
healthcare safety protocols such as physical distancing of at least 2 meters and ensuring
the wearing of face masks and face shields can be easily applied, monitored, or
observed.
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Rebuttal issues such as budget, availability of resources, services, and

applicability of the opening of Region Testing Centers might become to rebut the idea
of opening Regional Testing Centers. Dealing with those issues is normal, and still
opening Regional Testing Centers is a win-win situation and is heavier than the rebuttal
issues. It is undeniable that opening regional testing centers requires additional budgets
and funding to conduct the said examination. But come to think with it, opening a
regional testing center is much more way cheaper than diagnosing Covid patients in the
hospital because this patient acquired the said virus while taking the exam or catering to
a Locally Stranded Individual such as those graduate students that reviewed from the
infected cities that undergo a mandatory quarantine on the quarantine facility to ensure
safety. Another concerning issue from the budget and funding is the workforce services
that would need to conduct the examination. As long as the funding is enough and well-
managed, then the workforce will not be a problem. It will also open up new job
vacancies that can help other people in terms of employment.

Other rebuttal issues concerning the opening of Regional Testing Centers might
address that this proposal is only applicable during the nation is under a state of
emergency due to the emergence of the virus, but no one among us would know when
this pandemic will or would end. Perhaps let's think of this, if we are going to open the
Regional Testing Centers for Civil Engineering Board Exam, then this also means that
we are going to open up new doors of opportunities and equal fairness to all the
graduate students across the archipelago, even to those students who resided on the far-
flung regions.

To sum it all up, improving the Republic Act No. 544 specifically on Article III
Section IX by opening Regional Testing Center is beneficial to the Professional
Regulation Commission (PRC) examinees, Professional Regulatory Boards (PRBs), and
examination personnel. Financial and budget issues might rebut the proposal of the
opening of the Regional Testing Centers, but if we are going to sort these things out, we
can see that this proposal is way more a remedy and good. Opening a Regional Testing
Center for Civil Engineering Licensure Board Examination can ensure safety and
fairness in Civil Engineering Licensure Board exams soon, despite any situations.
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References:

PhilAtlas(2021). Regions. Retrieved from https://www.philatlas.com/regions.html

Professional Regulation Commission (2019). November 2019 Civil Engineer Licensure

Examination. Retrieved from https://www.prc.gov.ph/article/november-2019-civil-
engineer-licensure-examination-results-released-four-4-working-days/4216

Professional Regulation Commission (2019). May 2019 Civil Engineer Licensure

Examination. Retrieved from https://www.prc.gov.ph/article/may-2019-civil-engineer-
licensure-examination-results-released-four-4-working-days/3957

Professional Regulation Commission (2018). November 2018 Civil Engineer Licensure

Examination. Retrieved from https://www.prc.gov.ph/article/november-2018-civil-
engineer-licensure-examination-released-four-4-working-days/3725

Professional Regulation Commission (2018). May 2018 Civil Engineer Licensure

Examination. Retrieved from https://www.prc.gov.ph/article/may-2018-civil-engineer-
licensure-examination-results-released-four-4-working-days/1958

Professional Regulation Commission (2017). November 2017 Civil Engineer Licensure

Examination. Retrieved from https://www.prc.gov.ph/article/november-2017-civil-
engineer-licensure-examination-results-released-four-4-working-days/922

Professional Regulation Commission (2017). May 2017 Civil Engineer Licensure

Examination. Retrieved from https://www.prc.gov.ph/article/april-2017-civil-
engineering-licensure-examination-results-released-three3-working-days/1418

Professional Regulation Commission (2016). November 2016 Civil Engineer Licensure

Examination. Retrieved from https://www.prc.gov.ph/article/november-2016-civil-
engineer-licensure-examination-results-released-three-3-working-days
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Professional Regulation Commission (2016). May 2016 Civil Engineer Licensure

Examination. Retrieved from https://www.prc.gov.ph/article/may-2016-civil-engineer-
licensure-examination-results-released-three-3-working-days/2176

Professional Regulation Commission (2015). November 2015 Civil Engineer Licensure

Examination. Retrieved from https://www.prc.gov.ph/article/november-2015-civil-
engineer-licensure-examination-results-released-2-working-days/2290

Professional Regulation Commission (2015). May 2015 Civil Engineer Licensure

Examination. Retrieved from
https://www.prc.gov.ph/article/may-2015-civil-engineer-licensure-examination-results-
released-three-3-working-days/2596