SC affirms education, training provisions of Philippine Psychology Act of 2009

THE Supreme Court has declared “not unconstitutional” Section 16(c) of the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act No. 10029, or the Philippine Psychology Act (PPA) of 2009, which provides the standards and the period within which practitioners may register as psychologists without examination.

In a 16-page decision penned by Associate Justice Mario V. Lopez, the Court en banc unanimously affirmed the decision issued by the Court of Appeals on May 21, 2019 which denied the petition for review filed by Florentina Caoyong Sobrejuanite-Flores assailing the validity of the administrative regulation.

The CA upheld the findings of the Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC) and the Board of Psychology (BOP) that Flores was not qualified to avail of the exemption, or to register a as psychologist without examination pursuant to Section 16(c) of the PPA’S IRR.

The assailed provision granted a period for practitioners to register as psychologists without examination and crafted sufficient standards on who may avail of the exemption measured in terms of educational attainment and work experience.

Specifically, the law provides that applicants who have Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology may be registered without examination if they accumulated a “minimum of ten [10] years of work experience in the practice of psychology…” and “updated their professional education in various psychology-related functions.”

The SC noted that “the clear legislative intent” or PPA is to regulate the practice of psychology and to protect the public from incompetent individuals offering psychological services.

“The Code of Ethics for Philippine Psychologists enjoins to develop and maintain competence in caring for the well-being of the patient which requires the application of knowledge and skills that are appropriate for the nature of a situation as well as the social and cultural context,” the SC explained.