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OFWs benefit from Qatar licensure examinations


The Philippine government conducted its first licensure examinations in Qatar, benefiting more than three hundred Filipinos there who need not go home to secure professional certification to become architects and engineers. Held last December 2 and 3, the first licensure examinations in the Middle Eastern country were conducted by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) Board of Examiners at the Philippine International School Qatar. Examinations in architecture, civil, mechanical, and electrical engineering were taken by 321 Filipinos, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said, citing a report from the Philippine embassy. Ninety took exams in civil engineering, 100 in architecture, 27 in mechanical engineering, 56 in registered mechanical engineering, 31 in registered electrical engineering, and 17 in professional electrical engineering. Exam results are expected to be announced by early 2010, though other professional engineering bodies may announce it even before the year ends, PRC Board of Civil Engineers Chairman Apollo Enriquez said. Conducting examinations in Qatar is a big help, especially to employed Filipino engineers who may not have time to take their board exams. They either have to go back to the Philippines or nearby Saudi Arabia to take the exams. “Even if someone is working as an engineer without license, he feels incomplete as a professional. A license, by passing the board exams, will surely benefit them," Enriquez said. The PRC has scheduled the exams long before President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo announced the regular conduct of licensure examinations in the Middle East, Philippine Ambassador to Qatar Crescente Relacion said. Arroyo recently issued Executive Order 835, directing the Philippine Labor department through the Professional Regulations Commission (PRC) to conduct Special Professional Licensure Board Examinations for qualified overseas Filipino workers (OFW) in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, and other Middle East countries that have diplomatic relations with the Philippines. The venue for the SPLBE will be identified by the Department of Foreign Affairs through its Consular Offices and Department of Labor and Employment through the PRC. The designated government agencies will work on the required permits from the host countries, the provision of the venue of examinations, and the travel documents for those who will give the board exams, according to the presidential edict. She said the expenses for the conduct of the special exams would be charged against the budget of the PRC. There are more than a million OFWs working in the Middle East, majority of them in oil-rich Saudi Arabia. - with Joseph Holandes Ubalde, RJAB Jr./GMANews.TV

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