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Group 11 Case Study # 1 RA 7920 electrical

Power System Analysis (Batangas State University)

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Republic of the Philippines

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
BatStateU Alangilan
Alangilan, Batangas City
https://batstate-u.edu.ph/, Tel. No. (043) 425-0139 loc. 118/2121

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, ARCHITECTURE AND FINE ARTS

Electrical and Computer Engineering Department

EE – 409 Electrical Standards and Practices

Case Study No. 1

Republic Act 7920 “The New Electrical Engineering Law”

Submitted by:
Comia, Seth Leo E.
Dalisay, Joshua L.
Espeleta, Leif Ericson P.
3207

Submitted to:
Engr. Margielou T. Delen

February 25, 2022

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I. Introduction
The blog post of a licensed civil engineer, Dee Reyes, on his blog called “Engineer
Dee’s Blog” on July 9, 2021 has garnered interests among those who wanted to take the
2021 licensure examination. It is about the challenges to be faced upon taking the
licensure examinations on 2021. The issues brought up by Engr. Dee Reyes in his blog
post will be discussed in relation to Republic Act (RA) 7920 “New Electrical
Engineering Law”. This case study report will also give the reader an opportunity to gain
a greater understanding of the subject with less potential for bias of an individual. The
case study will also answer the question raised by the blog author, should you have taken
the board exam on 2021?
COVID-19 has wreaked havoc around the world since its emergence on December
2019. Nearly 36 million individuals have been infected and over one million have died as
of October 6, 2020. This amounts to over 325,000 sick people and 6,000 deaths in the
Philippines (Worldometer, 2020). Most countries have chosen to use quarantine protocols
and temporarily close their educational institutions in order to stop COVID-19 from
spreading. As a result, over a billion students around the world have been impacted. Over
28 million Filipino students across all academic levels are among those who must remain
at home and adhere to the Philippine government's quarantine regulations (UNESCO,
2020).
The education sector, like any other essential sectors in the society has been
particularly hard hit. There is no exception whether it be students, schools, colleges,
universities. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO), as of September 2021, over 800,000,000 learners from around
the world have been affected. Even though countries around the world are taking steps to
enable remote learning, at least 29% of primary pupils are not being reached. Aside from
a lack of resources for remote learning, the youngest children may be unable to
participate owing to a lack of technological assistance, a poor learning environment,
pressure to do family duties, or being forced to work because of life circumstances. All
social or formal gatherings are also not allowed because of infection risks.
Considering the situation, the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) postponed
the conduct of the licensure examination scheduled on October to December 2020. With

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this announcement, many hopeful graduates of programs like, engineering, architects,

midwives, nurses, etc. are disappointed. The PRC released a statement along with the list
of the said postponed licensure examinations: “Due to 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, the
conduct of the following scheduled October to December 2020 licensure examinations is
hereby postponed”. From what it looks like Engr. Dee Reyes’ blog post was inspired by
the events that transpired since the emergence of COVID-19.

II. Project Description

The case study is focuses on the difficulties imposed by the pandemic during the 2021
board licensure examinations, specifically concerning urgency, preparedness, and safety.
All the data that will be presented in this case study came from published articles and
other form of sources which are deemed reliable. The case study report is divided into 7
parts; introduction, project description, evaluation, implication, summary and conclusion,
references, and documentation. The scope of this case study is on the electrical
engineering graduates that are able to take the board licensure examination for Registered
Electrical Engineer (REE) on the year 2021. This case study also focuses on how this
event is related to RA 7920 “New Electrical Engineering Law”. Even with these
boundaries, it is still in the researchers’ best interest to provide an unbiased and in-depth
discussion of the topic to provide assistance for the readers.

III. Evaluation
One of the final hurdles a candidate must overcome in the licensing process is the
licensing examination. The main goal of a licensure exam is to identify individuals who
have the bare minimum of knowledge and experience required to perform work activities
safely and competently. In this sense, it is very different from academic examinations.
The board exams are the prediction of “actual marks” of a student because every school
has different examinations, which also translates to different difficulty. Essentially, board
exam provides a fair competition among students in a large scale.

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Electrical engineering graduates made a big decision on the year 2021. After the
cancellation of all board exams back in August 2020, the licensure examination will be
held again that year. The PRC took a quick action following the cancellation of the
examinations on 2020 because after three (3) months they released the Memorandum
Order (MO) No. 68 Series of 2020 with the subject of “Updated standard guidelines on
the strict health protocols to be observed in the conduct of licensure examinations during
the COVID-19 pandemic”. For the graduates, specifically the electrical engineering
graduates, this is good news. According to RA 7920, Article 3, Section 11, Registration
and License Required, “A valid certificate of registration and a valid professional license
from the Commission are required before any person is allowed to practice engineering in
the Philippines except as otherwise allowed under this Act.”, with this, anymore
suspension of the licensure examination is not favorable. The quick action of PRC greatly
helped a lot of electrical engineering graduates, but this is not true for all of them. The
graphic below shows the number of examinees for REE for the year 2016-2021 on month
of September.

Total no. of Examinees for REE (September)

6000

4891
5000 4697
4460
4115
4000

3000 2590

2000

1000

0
2016 2017 2018 2019 2021

Figure 1 Total number of REE examinees for the month of September from year 2016-2021 taken from prc.gov.ph

It is very evident in the data presented that the number of examinees registering for
REE from the month of September for the year of 2021 has significantly dropped. From

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the month of 2016 until 2019 it is steadily increasing and after the emergence of COVID-
19 it dropped. Comparing the number of examinees from year 2016 and 2021, it is a
decrease 37.0595%. Now if we compare the number of examinees in 2021 to the number
of examinees from the previous year of examination, 2019, it is a decrease of 47.0456%.
Another angle to look at is the number of examinees who passed the examination for
each year. The graphic below shows the number of examinees who passed for REE for
the year 2016-2021 on month of September.

Total no. of Passers for REE (September)

3500 3285
3135
3000 2817 2807

2500

2000
1668
1500

1000

500

0
2016 2017 2018 2019 2021
Figure 2 Total number of REE passers for the month of September from year 2016-2021 taken from prc.gov.ph
Considering that the number of examinees has dropped, it is expected that the number
of examinees who will pass the examinations will also drop. A fair comparison cannot be
drawn by looking at the data. But by taking the passing rate from each year a decent
comparison can be made. The passing rate from year 2016-2021, respectively, is
68.4569%, 62.9372%, 66.7447%, 67.1642%, and 64.4015%. The passing rate from the
2021 licensure examination is in trend with the previous years.

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IV. Implications
Based on the data provided in the previous part of this case study, it is evident that
urgency is not their main concern. Even knowing that the practice of electrical
engineering is not allowed without registration and license, with a few exceptions stated
on RA 7920, Article 3, Sec. 13, the number of examinees still dropped significantly. If
not urgency, the other major possible cause of this drop in participants is safety. Even
with the strict protocols provided in accordance with MO No. 68 (S.2020), maybe the
electrical engineering graduates still felt there is a high risk of infection. The low number
of participants can also be the cause of following the protocols imposed by the PRC. The
venue might not be enough to accommodate the usual number of participants so may be
the PRC cut down the number of maximum participants allowed per examination.
Thankfully, there are no reports of mass infection after conducting the 2021 licensure
examination. As for the preparedness of the electrical engineering graduates, based from
the data, it is low. The conclusion is based from the fact that the number of participants is
low. Despite the low number of participants, the passing rate is at average and there is no
mass infection that happened after the exam has been conducted we can safely assume
that it is a success.
The essential findings in this case study can give assistance to the future electrical
engineering graduates, and other degree holders in making decisions on whether to take
the licensure examination despite the difficulties that risen because of the pandemic.

V. Summary and Conclusion

Dee Reyes, a licensed civil engineer, wrote a blog article that piqued the curiosity of
individuals planning to take the licensure exams in 2021. The purpose of this case study
is to identify the issues raised in that blog and discuss what has transpired since then in
order to provide the readers a better grasp of the subject. It is also in the researchers’ best
interest to base all their evaluations and implications on the Republic Act 7920 “New
Engineering Law”. The analysis of the information listed here is conducted through
causal and descriptive data analysis.
In 2021, it is clear that urgency and preparedness are not the top priorities for
electrical engineering graduates concerning the licensure exams. It is clear that they value

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their own safety and the safety of their family more. This is evident from the low number
of participants in the licensure exams even if this means that their chance of finding a job
becomes slimmer. This is not all; there are many reasons for not taking the 2021 licensure
exams. These reasons will not be discussed by this case study for it is beyond the
boundaries set by the researchers. Even with the setbacks, the researchers still think that
the 2021 licensure examination for Registered Electrical Engineer is a success. This is
based on the fact that there is no mass infection that happened and the passing rate is
average.
Future exploration regarding the topics that this case study did not discuss is going to
be useful in giving the readers another viewpoint regarding the issues. With this, the case
study has discussed the three major concerns in the blog post in question; urgency,
preparedness, and safety of the engineering graduates regarding the 2021 licensure
exams.
VI. References
 Professional Regulation Commission. prc.gov.ph. 2016-2021. (accessed
February 25, 2022).
 Professional Regulation Commission. November 6, 2020.
https://www.prc.gov.ph/article/important-reminders-all-examinees-various-
licensure-examinations/5169 (accessed February 18, 2022).
 Reyes, Dee. Engineer Dee's Blog. July 9, 2021.
https://engineerdee.com/author/dee-reyes/ (accessed February 18, 2022).
 unicef. unicef Philippines. August 25, 2021.
https://www.unicef.org/philippines/press-releases/filipino-children-continue-
missing-education-opportunities-another-year-school (accessed February 15,
2022).

 unicef Philippines. September 21, 2021. https://www.unicef.org/press-

releases/schools-still-closed-nearly-77-million- students-18-months-
pandemic-unicef (accessed February 18, 2022).

 Joaquin, J. et.al. The Philippine Higher Education Sector in time of

COVID-19. Southeast Asian Research Center and Hub, De La Salle
University, Manila, Philippines

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VII. Documentation

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