Filipino professionals residing in the Western Region are scheduled to meet the three-member team from the Professional Commission (PRC) delegation at Trident Hotel today.

The meeting has been arranged to allow nationals to register for the PRC examination, Tuesday through Thursday..

“We’re happy to be here to administer the examination to 239 Filipinos from different professions in the Western Region. It’s part of our job,” lawyer Dan V. Malayang, head of the delegation, told Arab News.

“Our mandate is to keep the integrity of the examination,” he stressed, adding, that anyone found guilty of leakage could face up to 12 years prison sentence and a fine ranging from 50,000 pesos to 100,000 pesos.

The PRC delegation also includes Jane Edquid and Mirasol de los Santos of the PRC Central Office in Manila.

Another PRC delegation with five members headed by Lily Ann Baldago, Iloilo PRC Regional Office will simultaneously administer the examination to Filipino professionals in the Kingdom’s capital.

Malayang, also the Cebu PRC Office head in Region seven, said, “It’s easier for Filipino professionals to take the examination in the Kingdom than in the Philippines, because when they are on vacation they don’t have enough time to take the exam.”

“During vacations, OFWs are preoccupied with attending to personal matters such as bonding with their respective families and visiting other relatives in the provinces,” he said.

He pointed out that certified public accountants, civil engineers, nurses, electrical engineers, registered electricians, mechanical engineers and architects would sit for the exam.

Yusoph P. Admain, a community leader and past president of the Philippine Professionals Organization (PPO) in Jeddah, said that Filipino professionals in the region have expressed happiness in taking the examination in the Kingdom.

“The PPO has been lobbying on their behalf for the examination to be held in the region yearly. We sent a letter to the PRC with an endorsement from the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah. A follow-up is being made,” he told Arab News.

He added that while the examination is held yearly in Riyadh, it takes place every two years in Al-Khobar and Jeddah.

Aside from the Kingdom, the examination will also be held simultaneously in Doha, Qatar and in Abu Dhabi.

Senando Esteban of the PRC office in Region 9 heads the delegation in Abu Dhabi, while the team in Doha is headed by Sarah Edna Tabije of the office of financial services at the PRC head office in Manila.