Globalizing the professions

The other Sunday, I wrote on my vision for lawyers to (1) be ethical and competent, (2) safeguard the liberty and nurture the prosperity of our people, and (3) globalize their outlook and practice. Today, I will dwell on the globalization of all professions: accounting, architecture, dentistry, engineering, medicine, nursing, etc.

Globalization of services. The World Trade Organization (WTO), of which the Philippines is a member, has globalized not only trade and industry by breaking down tariffs and taxes that impede the free flow of goods, but also services by encouraging the free exchange of the professions and blue-collar labor worldwide.

The Philippines is a major beneficiary of the globalization of blue-collar labor. Over 10 million Filipinos are employed abroad and remitted $26 billion last year, thus keeping the Philippine economy bustling and growing at a pace second only to China.

On white-collar jobs (or professions), however, the story is a little different. Former Dean Andres D. Bautista of the Far Eastern University Institute of Law and one of 10 holders of the Chief Justice Panganiban Professorial Chairs on Liberty and Prosperity, pointed out in a recent lecture that our Constitution limits the practice of all professions to Filipino citizens, save in cases prescribed by law, and by implication also restricts our professionals from practicing in foreign countries that demand reciprocity.

Pursuant to the constitutional exception, Congress enacted Republic Act No. 8981 authorizing foreigners to practice here on a reciprocal basis, i.e., the laws of the countries of the foreign professionals allow citizens of the Philippines to practice the profession on the same basis and grant the same privileges as those enjoyed by citizens of such foreign states.

Also, our Labor Code allows non-resident aliens to work here after a determination of non-availability of a person in the Philippines who is competent, able and willing at the time of the application to perform the services for which the alien is desired. In 2012, about 12,000 working permits for foreigners were issued.

Asean integration. The reciprocal exchange of professional practice is urgently required by the forthcoming integration of the 10 member-countries (including the Philippines) of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) next year. Aseans 2015 vision is a single market where goods, investments, capital, skilled labor and services freely flow.

To prepare for this integration, Dean Bautista reported that the Philippines entered into mutual recognition agreements with Asean members for reciprocal professional practice by their citizens: engineering (on Dec. 9, 2005), nursing (Dec. 8, 2006), architecture and land surveying (both on Nov. 19, 2007), and medicine, dentistry and accounting (all on Feb. 26, 2009).

Borderline actual situations. Beyond Asean, Dean Bautista sketched some actual situations where borderline professional practice is already being done here, and I quote him:

(1) In architecture: International hotel chain Shangri-La is planning to build a 6-star hotel in Fort Bonifacio. It engages Palmer & Turner which is a foreign architectural firm based in San Francisco but with a branch in Hong Kong. It also engaged a structural engineer, Ove Arup, as design consultant, [and] BTR Ltd., Davis Langdon and Seah as quality surveyor. Teams of foreign professionals visit the project site on a regular basis. It engages a local architectural firm, Recio & Casas, to sign the plans. After the hotel is built, it will be employing several expatriates: general manager, hotel manager, resident manager, chef, etc.

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Globalizing the professions