RESA will professionalize industry, says expert

MANILA, Philippines - The new Real Estate Service Act of the Philippines, Republic Act No. 9646 (RESA), will professionalize 30,000 practitioners in the country and develop a corps of competent consultants, appraisers, brokers and assessors, both private and public, who can maximize the potentials of the industry.

This was the pronouncement of Dr. Eduardo G. Ong, chairman of the Professional Regulatory Board of Real Estate Service (PRB-RES) of the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), during the recent Chamber of Real Estate and Builders Association (CREBA) general membership meeting.

Also during the meeting, CREBA, led by its national president, Jun Dulalia, launched its first International Convention to be held in Macau on October 26 & 27, 2010 and signed two (memorandum of agreements with Pag-IBIG on Social Housing Program and with Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) on a cable television tie-up regarding real estate.

RESA created the PRB-RES, composed of a chairperson and four members appointed by the President of the Philippines, under the administration of the PRC, to supervise and regulate the registration, licensure and practice of real estate service in the country.

Hence, the board will conduct the licensure examinations for practitioners and issue, suspend, revoke or reinstate certificates of registration or professional identification cards. It will likewise maintain a register of licensed professionals, monitor their practices and adopt a national Code of Ethics and Responsibilities for the sector.

Except for real estate sales people, Filipinos who want to be registered and licensed as real estate service practitioners must take an examination which the board will give at least once every year in places and dates that the PRC will designate. In addition, all real estate brokers and private real estate appraisers shall be required to post a professional indemnity insurance, cash or surety bond, renewable every three years, for at least P20,000.

Local schools will be offering a Bachelor of Science in Real Estate starting school year 2011-2012. The board, in cooperation with the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and concerned state universities and colleges, will prescribe the curricula for academic courses in real estate service.

Violators of the law will be slapped with a P100,000 fine or two years imprisonment, or both, according to Ong.

“The RESA will provide opportunities for real estate practitioners to be called professionals and practice in other countries although the law is not as perfect as it should be,” he added.

At present, the PRB-RES is conducting consultations and public hearings about the Imple.