PRC to intensify campaign vs review centers

MANILA, Philippines – The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) is mounting an intensified anti-review centers campaign, amidst the ban on Filipino physical therapists from taking licensure examination in the United States following the discovery of test leakages in board examinations in the Philippines.

PRC reported yesterday that the information campaign to be mounted in various colleges and universities aims to dissuade future licensure examinees from enrolling in review centers prior to taking licensure examinations.

“It’s some sort of a reminder for future licensure examinees to rely on their own strength and be cautious in getting the services of review centers,” PRC public information and media relation unit chief Roderick Vejano said.

Vejano noted that the PRC has an existing campus tour program where graduating college students are being taught the dos and don’ts of taking licensure exams.

“Before our information was focused on the requirements for the examination, in the coming campaign we will be including reminders for them to be cautious and stay away if possible from review centers,” Vejano said.

He added that the PRC is not adopting additional measures for coming licensure examination for physical and occupational therapists since there is no need for it.

“There is no problem with our examination, the board can ensure that the coming examination will be credible,” Vejano added.

He said the commission and the boards of physical and occupational therapists would be conducting consultations to come up with solutions to the concerns raised by the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy (FSBPT).

In the meantime, PRC chairman Nicolas Lapena advised Filipino therapists who are still aspiring to work in US to just go on with their review because the suspension is just temporary.

Review centers have been linked to several reports of leakages and other anomalies that affected the integrity and credibility of licensure examinations in the country.

The FSBPT in the US prevented last week all physical therapy graduates from the Philippines, Egypt, Pakistan, and India from taking the licensure examination.

The FSBPT, in its website, said the federation suspended the National Physical Therapy Examination (NPTE) testing for physical therapy graduates from the four countries due to “pervasive, ongoing security breaches.”

The FSBPT said it is preparing a separate, secured examination for the graduates, which would be completed in 2011.          

The FSBPT filed in 2007 a case against Saint Louis Review Center in the Philippines for allegedly copying some parts of the examination held in 2005 and 2006 and using them as review questionnaires, but the case was junked for lack of evidence.

The FSBPT said the Philippines should adopt measures that would protect their intellectual and property rights and impose sanctions against the concerned review center.     

The PRC said the agency and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) do not have the authority to regulate review centers.

Vejano said the Supreme Court had nullified an executive order authorizing the CHED to regulate the review centers.

Vejano said the PRC would just be mounting an information and awareness campaign to protect licensure examinees until the government is granted regulatory powers.