Vice President and opposition leader Leni Robredo has added her voice against the proposed abolition of licensure examinations for certain professions.
Robredo said the country’s entire educational system should be overhauled if the professional licensure exams will be scrapped.
“Iyong mga exams naman hindi naman ito iyong walang purpose eh. Ang purpose nito ay para itest kung pumasa ka sa standards ng profession mo (The exams serve a purpose. Its purpose is to test if you pass the standards of your profession),” she said over dzXL.
The vice president explained the licensure exams can’t just be removed, as proposed by Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, because it requires an “overhaul of the educational system that produces those professions.”
Last week, Bello floated the idea of abolishing licensure exams, especially for nurses and lawyers, due to the high costs of studying and taking the boards.
He then clarified there is no proposal to scrap the licensure exams, but said he only wanted it to be studied by regulatory agencies like the Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC) and Philippine Nurses Association (PNA).
READ: PNA disapproves of Bello's proposal to scrap board exams for nurses
Nevertheless, Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo and PNA President Melbert Reyes expressed opposition to Bello’s proposal, along with Robredo joining them.
The vice president stressed that requiring graduates to pass the board exams would ensure their competence in their chosen professions.
“Halimbawa pasyente ako, hahanap ako ng doctor, hahanap ba ako ng hindi dumaan ng board exam? Siyempre iyong gusto mo iyong sigurado, iyong sigurado na pumasa (For example I’m a patient, I will look for a doctor, would I look for a doctor who did not take the board exam? Of course what you want is the one who passed it),” she said.