RA 10915: Philippine Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering Act of 2016
I. Summary
The Republic Act 10915 is the “Philippine Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering Act
of 2016”. It was approved on July 21, 2016. On the other hand, the Implementing Rules and
Regulations (IRR) of this law was effective on September 20, 2022. This law was made for
the regulation, promotion, and strengthening of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering
(ABE) in the Philippines. Through this republic act, the practice of Agricultural and Biosystems
Engineering ensures the acceleration of agricultural and fishery modernization, food and water
security, the development of bio-energy, conservation of natural resources, protection of the
environment, and human health and safety.
The RA 10915 consists of 7 articles. In its IRR, there are 7 rules. The IRR and RA are
technically the same, the only difference is that the former is detailed. The 7 articles in this act
are the General Provisions (Art. 1), Professional Regulatory Board of Agricultural and
Biosystems Engineering (Art. 2), Examination, Registration, and License (Art. 3), Practice of
Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering (Art. 4), Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering
Education and Continuing Professional Education/Development (Art. 5), Enforcement Of This
Act and Penal Provisions (Art. 6), and Transitory and Final Provisions (Art. 7).
Article 1. General Provisions. Under this article is the Sections 1 to 5. The first section
discusses the title of the act. The second section states the purpose of the law, which is to
promote, strengthen, and regulate the practice of ABE. The third section discusses the ABE
practices that are covered by the law. The practices covered are the examination, registration,
and licensure of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineers, the supervision, control, and
regulation of ABE practices, development, upgrading, and updating of the ABE curriculum, the
development and improvement of the professional competence and practice of ABE, and the
membership of AB engineers in one Accredited Integrated Professional Organization (AIPO).
The fourth section discusses the definition of terms used in the RA. The fifth section, which is
the last section of this article, discusses the scope of ABE practices within its meaning and
intent but it is not limited to the stated practices. According to Section 5, Scope of Practice of
ABE, a few of the practices are the preparation of engineering designs and plans related to
agriculture, supervision or management of construction, operation, and maintenance of
agricultural facilities, testing and evaluation of AB machinery, etc.
Article 2. Professional Regulatory Board of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering.
In this article, the formation and creation of the Professional Regulatory Board of Agricultural
and Biosystems Engineering (PRBABE) is discussed. The Board is composed of a
chairperson and 2 members who are appointed by the President. The qualifications to be a
member of the Board are; Filipino citizenship and residency, at least thirty-five years of age;
graduate of BSABE, BS Agricultural Engineering, or any equivalent course recognized by
CHED, registered and practicing Agricultural and Biosystem Engineer for at least 10 years,
must not be a faculty member of any institute teaching BSABE or review centers three years
prior to the appointment, and must be a member of the AIPO with good standing for at least 5
years and not an officer of the organization. Their services and compensation are also
included in this article. The ground for removal and their duties as members of the Board are
discussed. They are responsible for ensuring that the Republic Act is followed. They are also
required to submit an Annual Report at the end of the year to the President through the
commission.
Article 3. Examination, Registration, and License. In this article, the process for
applying for examination, registration after passing the licensure exam, and the process for
getting licensed are discussed. In Section 14, it was stated that in order to register for the
practice of ABE, applicants are required to pass the licensure exam. To apply for the
examinations, the applicants must be a citizen of the Philippines or a foreign citizen who
belongs to a country where there is a policy on reciprocity in the practice of the profession, a
graduate of BSABE, and of good moral character. The applicants are also instructed to pass
the requirements and pay the fees before taking the licensure exam. The scope of the
examination consists of the four major fields of ABE: Power, Energy and Machinery
Engineering, Land and Water Resources Engineering, Structures and Environment
Engineering, and Bioprocess Engineering. Other topics are project management, Feasibility
Study Preparation, Evaluation, Research, Development, and Extension on Agricultural and
Biosystems
Engineering;
Fundamentals
of
Agricultural,
Fishery,
Ecological,
and
Environmental Sciences; Mathematics and Basic Engineering Principles; Laws, Professional
Standards, and Ethics; and other subjects with the areas of competencies of ABE practice. If
the applicant fails the exam, they are allowed to take the exam again and if they failed on the
third try, they are required to attend a refresher program and take the exam a year after the
third try. Once they pass, they are required to take their oath, and the passers are issued a
Certificate of Registration (COR) and a Professional Identification Card (PIC). After the
issuance of COR and PIC, the passers are allowed to use Engr. as their official appendage
title.
Article 4. Practice of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering. In this article, the
practices and job positions of practicing and registered ABEs are discussed. The detailed seal
design of ABEs is discussed in Rule 4 or IRR. Section 30 is the section where it is indicated
that all Agricultural and Biosystems Engineers registered with the Board is automatically a
member of the AIPO accredited by the Board. It also discussed here the Foreign Reciprocity
wherein if a foreign Agricultural and Biosystem engineer wants to practice their profession in
the Philippines they must come from a country where they allow Filipino ABEs to practice
within its territorial limits on the same basis as the citizens of their country. It is also indicated
in this article that all concerned national government agencies, local government units (LGUs),
and State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) are required to employ Agricultural and Biosystem
Enginers and create various ABE positions.
Article 5. Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering Education and Continuing
Professional Education/Development. This part is about ensuring that the curriculum for
BSABE is updated and it requires CHED in collaboration with the Board and other concerned
government agencies to implement programs that rationalize and upgrade the Agricultural and
Biosystems Engineering education in the Philippines. Along with this, the CPD or Continuing
Professional Development is also discussed. The Board shall publish guidelines regarding the
implementation of CPD programs for ABEs. CPD is mandatory for practicing ABE.
Article 6. Enforcement Of This Act and Penal Provisions. It is stated here that the
primary duty of the Commission and Board is to implement and enforce the provisions of RA
10195, including the IRR. It also indicated here the penalties for those who will violate RA
10915. Violations include practicing ABE without being registered, using a revoked/suspended
COR, etc.
Article 7. Transitory and Final Provisions. It is indicated here the policies for the
transition from RA 8559 to RA 101915.
II. Purpose of the RA/Policy
Under the Article 1 Section 2. Statement of Policy, the main purpose of Republic Act
10915 is stated. RA 10915 is a policy declared for the practice of Agricultural and Biosystems
Engineering to be promoted, strengthened, and regulated in the Philippines. With this purpose,
there will be relevant Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering education, enhanced roles, and
better career prospects for Agricultural and Biosystems Engineers.
As a result, Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering services would be able to
accelerate the agricultural and fishery modernization, ensure food and water security,
conservation of natural resources, and protection of environment and human health.
III. Status of Implementation
In 2014, the bill was prepared and submitted by the Committee on Civil Service
Reorganization with Senator Antonio F. Trillanes as the author. In 2015, Senator Cynthia A.
Villar requested to be the coauthor of the bill. The bill was approved on its third reading, there
were 17 in favor of this bill, and none were against nor abstained. RA 10915 was enacted into
law on the 21st of July 2016, without the signature of the President. (Senate of the Philippines,
2016)
IV. Review of RA/Policy
Republic Act 10195 was enacted to promote, strengthen, and regulate the practice of
Agricultural and Biosystem Engineering. RA 10915 was signed in 2016 and its IRR was
published just last year, 2022. As of 2021, there are 10,909 registered Agricultural and
Biosystem Engineers. In 2022, there were 832 passers of the Agricultural and Biosystems
Engineering Licensure Exam and 615 passers in 2023. The total number of registered
engineers is 12,356. This number may seem a lot but comparing it to other registered
engineers like Civil Engineers which consists of 178,681 engineers (PICE, n.d.). In the
comparison of these numbers, it can be interpreted that there are a lot fewer people interested
in pursuing the field of Agricultural and Biosystem Engineering. As stated in Article 1 Section
2 of RA 10915, one of its purposes is to promote the practice of Agricultural and Biosystem
Engineering. Based on the number of registered engineers in Civil Engineering and
Agricultural and Biosystem Engineering, it seems that Agricultural and Biosystem Engineering
is not promoted well enough to grab people’s attention, especially students, to pursue this
career path. In order to promote the practice of ABE better, it is best to strengthen and regulate
it first.
The steps taken to regulate and strengthen the practice of ABE are the requiring LGUs
and other concerned government agencies to employ Agricultural and Biosystem Engineers
for operations and jobs related to Agriculture and Biosystems processes. All LGUs are
required to have an Agricultural and Biosystem Engineer working in their municipalities
because all municipalities are involved in Agricultural and Biosystems operations like
construction of farm-to-market roads, building of agricultural facilities, etc. In line with this is
the release of the Joint Memorandum Circular No. 02 Series of 2020 which indicates the
strengthening or establishment of the Agricultural and Biosystem Engineering unit in every
Local Government Unit and the creation of engineer positions in these ABE units.
In
Dasmarinas, Cavite, there is no news if the municipality created a designated office for
agriculture or agricultural and biosystem engineers. It is stated in Article 2 Section 11 of RA
10915 that one of the duties of PRBABE is to inspect and monitor if the provisions of the RA
are followed by public or private offices but according to the PRC Annual Report from 2020
up to 2021, the boards were not able to conduct inspections due to the pandemic. In 2022, as
stated in the PRC annual report, the board of ABE did not conduct any inspection.
To ensure that the provisions of RA 10915, the PRBABE must conduct the mandatory
inspections again. The reason for not inspecting in 2022 was not stated in the annual report.
Hopefully, the inspection will be done for the year 2023 especially now that the bans from the
COVID-19 pandemic are now lifted.
V. Conclusion
Republic Act 10915 or the “Philippine Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering Act of
2016” discusses the education of Agricultural and Biosystem Engineering to align the
knowledge attained in SUCs with the job opportunities encountered after graduation, the
application for the licensure exam, requirements for registration after passing the Licensure
exam, and the duties as a licensed Agricultural and Biosystems Engineers. It has been 7 years
since RA 10915 was signed a law, 3 years since the release of the memorandum for the
creation of ABE units in LGUs, and a year since the publishing of the IRR of ABE Law. It is
quite a long process that needs efforts and cooperation from the whole country because of its
benefits like accelerating the modernization of the agro-fishery sector of the Philippines.
It is essential that the Professional Regulatory Board of Agricultural and Biosystems
Engineers exert extra effort to ensure that the provisions of the discussed law are followed. If
not, this will ultimately affect the career prospects and job opportunities of practicing
Agricultural and Biosystems Engineers.
VI. References
https://lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra2016/ra_10915_2016.html
IRR
https://www.da.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/jmc02_s2020.pdf
https://www.prc.gov.ph/sites/default/files/2022%20Annual%20Report_050223.pdf
https://www.prc.gov.ph/sites/default/files/Final_2021%20ANNUAL%20REPORT%20(1).pdf
https://www.prc.gov.ph/sites/default/files/PRC_2020%20Annual%20Report.pdf
https://bafe.da.gov.ph/index.php/2021/11/11/http-bafe-da-gov-ph-wp-admin-postphppost11683/#:~:text=As%20of%20September%2029%2C%202021,the%2012%20regulat
ed%20engineering%20professionals.
https://pice.org.ph/
https://www.prc.gov.ph/article/september-2023-agricultural-and-biosystems-engineerslicensure-examination-results-released
https://issuanceslibrary.senate.gov.ph/legislative%2Bissuances/Republic%20Act%20No.%2010915