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THE
Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) has thumbed
down the petition of another group of customs brokers to
review the status of the accreditation of Chamber of
Customs Brokers Inc. (CCBI) in a bid to determine if it
still enjoys the support of the practitioners.
In its
ruling on Administrative Case 29, the Professional
Regulatory Board for Customs Brokers (PCBAPI) said it
has no power to interfere in matters concerning the
support of the members for its accredited professional
organization. The commission, under Rule 4 of
Professional Regulation Commission Resolution 2004-178,
is empowered only to cancel or suspend the accreditation
of an accredited professional organization if, among
others, the membership of the accredited professional
organization falls below 50 percent of the total
practitioners, the PRC added in its ruling.
“To
reiterate, the commission is not clothe with authority
of law or resolution to conduct such referendum,”
according to the decision signed by board chairman
Constantino Calica and Ferdinand Nague.
In
November last year, PCBAPI filed a petition to PRC for
the government to conduct a referendum after the group
declared its withdrawal of support from CCBI. The group
then had joined forces with the Visayas-Mindanao Customs
Brokers Association Inc. and the National Confederation
of Customs Brokers of the Philippines to exert more
pressure on the accreditation of CCBI.
The
government, as a rule, only accepts one association of
practitioners, although it does not bar professionals
from forming renegade groups.
When a
group is accredited by PRC, government will allow that
group to exact fees from all the practitioners and then
plow these back to the members by means of programs to
develop their capacities and skills.
There
were also previous PRC resolutions that membership in
the accredited organization is mandatory, which meant
all of the licensed customs brokers should be a member
of CCBI before their licenses are released.
Since
2006, PCBAPI has been questioning CCBI’s accreditation
with PRC, after the latter supported the implementation
of the Customs Brokers Act 0f 2004, which changes the
way practitioners do business.
The move
to unseat CCBI gained ground last year, when the three
groups joined forces and pooled their efforts towards
the same goal. CCBI was first accredited in 2004, with
accreditation having a three-year effectivity cycle. |
