ALKHOBAR, 22 October — Filipino graduates of civil, mechanical and electrical engineering who have refused to take this year’s licensure examinations have something to be sorry about: the exams may no longer be conducted in the Kingdom in the coming years.

Romeo Munda, the president of the Institute of Integrated Electrical Engineers, Eastern Region Chapter in Saudi Arabia (IIEE) said the Manila-based Professional Regulations Commission (PRC) plans to administer the test abroad only if the number of examinees are at least 150.

Munda said PRC Commissioner Alfonso Abad revealed this in a speech during the meeting of IIEE in Riyadh the other night.

The commission is going to issue implementing rules and guidelines for examinations to be held outside the Philippines, highlighting the minimum number of examinees as proposed by PRC chairwoman Antonieta Fortuna-Ibe, Munda quoted Abad as saying.

The PRC move is reportedly meant to minimize expenses on the part of examinees and host organizations.

Munda noted that the host organizations have to shoulder all the expenses of the examiners as these expenses are not included in the budget of the PRC, as approved by Congress.

“We appreciate that Chairman Abad insisted on coming to the Kingdom to conduct this year’s examination despite the disagreement they faced in Manila…” Munda told Arab News.

There are only 105 examinees throughout the Kingdom.

Of that number, 30 are electrical engineers, 20 civil engineers, and 55 mechanical engineers.

Licensure tests from the three fields have been given separately in the past two years. Because of the dwindling number of examinees, the PRC told the chapters of IIEE, the Philippine Society of Mechanical Engineers (PSME), and Association of Filipino Civil Engineers (AFCE) in Jeddah, Riyadh, and Alkhobar to coordinate simultaneous exams.

Lurking in the shadows

Several leaders of the Filipino engineers groups have expressed frustration over the refusal of their unlicensed colleagues to take advantage of the opportunity offered by the PRC in cooperation with the IIEE, PSME and AFCE.

“We know that there are still many graduates out their lurking in the dark, wasting their time doing odd jobs. They are wasting an opportunity for career advancement,” one AFCE official told Arab News.

Officials of the three groups were one in saying that there were several advantages of taking the exams in the Kingdom.

One is that they have reviewers who can help them even after their regular review sessions.

Another is that there are no pressures that those reviewing in Manila, Cebu or Davao undergo, such as traffic and pollution.

They also don’t have to go on leave from their job just to take the test in the Philippines.

The IIEE in Alkhobar has 36 members who will be taking up the licensure examinations, of which 26 are taking the Registered Electrical Engineer (REE) exams, three for Registered Master Electrician (RME) and seven for Professional Electrical Engineer (PEE).

Only those who have passed the REE and have practiced the profession for at least five years are qualified to take the PEE test.

With the first stage of the exams already completed in Riyadh, the PRC examiners will conduct the second stage in Jeddah starting today.

They will then move to Alkhobar on Oct. 25.

Chapter convention

Apart from hosting the exams, the IIEE chapter in the Eastern Region will also be holding its 6th Annual Chapter Convention and election of its board of directors and executive officers for next year.

The convention, to be chaired by current the chapter’s vice president, Robert Mabulay, will be held on Oct. 26 at the Le Gulf Meridien Hotel.

Invited as are Ambassador Rafael Seguis; Commissioner Abad; PRC licensing director Amelia Empaynado; Board of Electrical Engineering (BEE) chair Rodolfo Penaloza; BEE members Antonio Coronel and Jose Abinoja, both BEE members; and IIEE national president Fe Barrientos.

This year’s theme, “IIEE Onward To Face The Challenges of the New Technology and Globalization,” is a timely response to the compelling need to energize and keep the engineers abreast of the latest technology and equipment to remain globally competitive, according to a press release issued by Reynaldo Gines, press relation officer of the IIEE-ERCSA.

The convention includes technical seminars on “Power System Protection and Gen-set Sizing” to be conducted by Ben Jimenez, IIEE national technical seminar instructor and a prominent professional electrical engineer. The participating generous sponsors for this event are TIEPCO - subsidary office of Al-Tuwairiqi Group of Companies, Olayan Company, and Shade Corporation, and Saudi Shoes Co.