March 16, 2010 – Outgoing President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo approved and signed into law Republic Act No. 10029 otherwise known as the Philippine Psychology Act of 2009.

The passing of the said act ends the jinx of the 80’s when several versions of the “Psychology Bill” that have been submitted to the Philippine Congress were never enacted into laws.

The act, originally known as Senate Bill No. 3498 of the 14^th Congress, was prepared and submitted jointly by the Committee(s) on Civil Service and Government Reorganization and Finance with Senators Aquilino Q. Pimentel Jr., Antonio F. Trillanes IV, Loren B. Legarda, and Panfilo M. Lacson as authors.

The act substituted the Senate Bill No. 2280, the PHILIPPINE CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHOMETRICS ACT OF 2008 which was solely authored by Senator Trillanes.

Republic Act 10029 mandates the creation of a Professional Regulatory Board of Psychology (Art. IV, Sec. 4) which will be led by a Chairperson who can only acquire the said position via presidential appointment.

The said appointee must, among a number of qualifications provided in the article, “hold a Doctorate Degree in Psychology conferred by a university, college or school in the Philippines or abroad duly recognized and/or accredited by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED); have at least ten (10) years of practice in psychology and psychometrics in a duly recognized institution, clinic, or center, as well as at least five (5) years of teaching experience in the field of psychology”.

The passing of the said act also meant that all “All applicants for registration to practice psychology and psychometrics shall be required to pass a licensure examination for psychologists and psychometricians to be conducted by the Board in such places and dates, and subject to such requirements, prescribed by the Commission” (Art. V, Sec. 11).

However, Section 12 of the said bill states that before one can take the said licensure exam, the applicant must hold at least a Master’s degree in Psychology and should have undergone a minimum of two hundred hours of supervised practicum/internship/clinical experience related to services enumerated in par.

Examination subjects for psychologists include Advanced Theories of Personality, Advanced Abnormal Psychology, Advanced Psychological Assessment and Psychological Counselling and Psychotherapy.

A separate licensure exam will be offered to aspiring psychometricians who should at least hold a bachelor’s degree in psychology among other legal qualifications. Psychometricians will encounter Theories of Personality, Abnormal Psychology, Industrial Psychology and Psychological Assessment as test subjects for their licensure examination.

Republic Act 10029 aims to protect the integrity of the profession of psychology by providing the commission the legal means to “monitor the conditions and circumstances affecting the practice of psychology and psychometrics in the Philippines and adopt such measures as may be deemed lawful and proper for the enhancement and maintenance of high professional, ethical and technical standards of the profession”.

Such measures include the imposition of penalties to individuals who will engage in unethical and/or immoral practices in the practice of psychology.

Before the passing of the bill, its’ formal presentation to the Psychological Association of the Philippines (PAP) took place in Davao City on August 2008, during the 45^th Annual Convention of the said institution. Then PAP president Dr. Allan Bernardo was present to grace the event.

The act is legally entitled as “AN ACT TO REGULATE THE PRACTICE OF PSYCHOLOGY CREATING FOR THIS PURPOSE A PROFESSIONAL REGULATORY BOARD OF PSYCHOLOGY, APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFORE AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES”.

For more infomation on the PHILIPPINE PSYCHOLOGY ACT OF 2009, visit this link.