REPUBLIC ACT NO. 4374 - AN ACT TO
REGULATE THE PRACTICE OF GEODETIC ENGINEERING IN THE PHILIPPINES
Section 1. Short Title of Act. — This Act shall be known as
the "Geodetic Engineering Law".
Sec. 2. Geodetic Engineer. — Any person who is
technically and legally qualified to practise geodetic engineering
under this Act shall be known "geodetic engineer", which term shall
supersede "surveyor", in accordance with this Act.
Sec. 3. Creation and Composition of the Board. —
There is hereby created a Board of Examiners for Geodetic Engineers
hereinafter referred to as the Board, to be composed of a Chairman and
two Members, all to be appointed by the President of the Philippines
with the consent of the Commission on Appointments, upon the
recommendation of the Commissioner of Civil Service from among the
registered practising geodetic engineers of recognized standing in the
Philippines as certified to by any officially recognized association of
geodetic engineers in the Philippines and possessing the qualifications
prescribed in section five of this Act. The first members of the Board
shall be appointed within two years from the approval of this Act;
provided, that the present Board of Examiners for Surveyors shall
continue to function in lieu of the new Board until the members of the
latter shall have been appointed and qualified.
Sec. 4. Powers and duties of the Board. — The
Board is vested with the authority, conformably with the provisions of
this Act, to:
(a) Administer the provisions of this Act;
(b) Administer oaths in connection with the
administration of this Act;
(c) Issue, suspend or revoke certificates of
registration for the practice of geodetic engineering;
(d) Study the conditions affecting geodetic
engineering courses and training and the practice of the geodetic
engineering profession in the Philippines, and exercise the powers
conferred upon it by this and other Acts with a view to the maintenance
of efficient, ethical, technical, moral and professional standards in
the practice of geodetic engineering;
(e) Study and examine, in cooperation with the
Department of Education, the facilities of schools, colleges or
universities seeking permission to open courses or already offering
courses in geodetic engineering to see to it that the essential
requirements, including the employment of qualified faculty members,
are properly complied with;
(f) Recommend the opening of colleges or schools in
geodetic engineering to the Department of Education or other entity
concerned with the granting of school permits or authorization;
(g) Investigate violations of this Act and, for this
purpose, issue subpoena and subpoena duces tecum to secure attendance
of witnesses and the production of documents in connection with the
charges presented to and/or any investigation pending before the Board;
and if any person shall refuse to obey any subpoena so issued or shall
refused to testify or produce any book, document, or other pertinent
evidence required thereunder, the Board may petition the proper Court
of First Instance setting forth the facts and thereupon such court
shall, in a proper case, issue a subpoena to said person, requiring him
to appear before the Board, and thereto testify and/or produce such
books, papers, documents or other pertinent evidence as may be required
by such subpoena. Any person failing or refusing to obey the subpoena
or order of the said court shall be held liable in the same manner as
for refusal to obey any other subpoena or order of the court.
(h) Recommend or adopt, whenever necessary, such
measures as may be deemed proper for the advancement of the profession
and for the proper enforcement of this Act.
Sec. 5. Qualification of Board Members. — Each
member of the Board must, at the time of his appointment, be:
(a) A citizen and resident of the Philippines;
(b) At least thirty-one years of age and of good
moral character;
(c) A registered geodetic engineer under this Act;
(d) Actually in active practice of the Geodetic
Engineering or Surveying profession for at least ten years in or
outside of the government service;
(e) Not a member of the faculty of any school,
institute, college or university where a regular course in Geodetic
Engineering or Surveying is taught, or if he has been such a faculty
member, he has stopped teaching therein for at least three consecutive
years immediately preceding his appointment; and
(f) Not pecuniarily interested, directly or
indirectly, in any school, institute, college or university where a
regular course in Geodetic Engineering is taught.
Sec. 6. Term of Office. — The members of the Board
shall hold office for a term of three years: provided, that the first
appointee to the Board shall hold office for the following terms: the
Chairman for three years, one member for two years, and one member for
one year. Any vacancy occurring within the term of a member shall be
filled for the unexpired portion of the term only. Each member of the
Board shall qualify by taking the proper oath prior to the assumption
of office.
Sec. 7. Executive Officer and Secretary of the
Board. — The Commissioner of Civil Service shall be the executive
officer of the Board, and shall conduct the examination given by it
according to the rules and regulations promulgated by him and approved
by the President of the Philippines. The Secretary of the Board of
Examiners appointed in accordance with section ten of Act Numbered Four
Thousand Seven, as amended by Republic Act Numbered Five Hundred and
Forty-six, shall also be the Secretary of the Board. All the records of
the Board, including examination papers, minutes of deliberations and
records of administrative proceedings and investigations, shall be kept
by the Commissioner of Civil Service.
Sec. 8. Compensation of the Board. — The members
of the Board shall each receive as compensation a fee of ten pesos for
each applicant examined and ten pesos for each certificates of
registration granted without prior examination.
Sec. 9. Removal of Board Members. — The President
of the Philippines may, upon recommendation of the Commissioner of
Civil Service, suspend or remove any member of the Board for continued
neglect of duty, incompetence, commission or tolerance of
irregularities in the examination, malpractice, or unprofessional or
dishonorable conduct, after having given the member concerned an
opportunity to be heard and/or defend himself in a proper
administrative investigation.
SECTION 10. Rules and Regulations. — The Board may,
subject to the approval of the Commissioner of Civil Service and of the
President of the Philippines, promulgate such rules, regulations, and
code of ethics as may be necessary to carry out the provision of this
Act. After its approval, the rules, regulations or code of ethics shall
be published in the Official Gazette. Penal provisions may be included
in said rules and/or regulations, the violations of which shall be
punishable by a fine of not more than two hundred pesos or an
imprisonment for not more than six months, or both, in the discretion
of the court.
SECTION 11. Annual Report. — The Board shall submit
an annual report to the President of the Philippines after the close of
each fiscal year, giving a detailed account of its proceedings during
the year and embodying such recommendations as it may deem proper.
SECTION 12. Inhibition against practice of Geodetic
Engineering. — No person shall practice or offer to practice geodetic
engineering in the Philippines as defined in this Act, or use the title
"Geodetic Engineer" or any word, letter, figure or sign whatsoever,
tending to convey the impression that he is a geodetic engineer, or
advertise or indicate in any manner that he is qualified to perform the
work of a geodetic engineer without holding a valid certificate of
registration as geodetic engineer issued by the Board in accordance
with this Act.
SECTION 13. Definition and scope of terms. — Any
person, except geodetic engineering or surveying students and graduates
who perform geodetic engineering work under the supervision of a
registered geodetic engineer-instructor for the purpose of training,
shall be deemed to be practicing geodetic engineering within the
meaning and intent of this Act, who shall, with or without, fee, salary
or other reward or compensation:
(a) Perform professional services as geodetic
engineer; or
(b) Survey and prepare plan of land for registration
in the registry of property without a registered geodetic engineer's
supervision; or
(c) Undertake any work in which a transit,
theodolite, and/or tape is used, for purposes of property registration;
(d) Survey and prepare topographic, hydrographic and
economic maps for social, economic and engineering studies or planning;
or
(e) Be engaged as instructor or professor in a
technical subject in any geodetic engineering course in any school or
college; provided, that this provision shall not apply to military or
nautical schools.
SECTION 14. Examination required. — Except as
otherwise permitted under this Act, all applicants for registration for
the practice of geodetic engineering shall undergo a technical
examination as provided for herein.
SECTION 15. Qualifications of Applicants. — In order
to be admitted to the geodetic engineering examination, an applicant
must, at the time of filing his application thereof, establish to the
satisfaction of the Board that:
(a) He is at least twenty-one years of age;
(b) He is a citizen of the Philippines, or a
foreigner qualified to take the examination under section thirty-one of
this Act;
(c) He is in good health and of good moral character;
and
(d) He is a holder of the degree of Bachelor of
Science in Geodetic Engineering from any school, institute, college or
university recognized by the Government: provided, that said standard
course includes Mathematics, Physical Sciences; Laws on Natural
Resources, Land Registration and Property, and the Land Reform Code;
Plane Surveying, including isolated, mineral and cadastral land
surveys; Railroad Curves, and Earthworks; Hydrographic and Topographic
Surveying; Geodesy, including Geodetic Surveying, Geodetic Astronomy,
Geodetic Triangulation, Geodetic Levelling, Gravity Measurements, and
Least Squares; Photogrammetry and Cartography: provided, further, that
within three years after the approval of this Act, holders of a
certificate of Associate in Surveying, with at least one year field
experience under a licensed geodetic engineer, shall be qualified to
take the geodetic engineering examination.
SECTION 16. Holding of Examination. — Examination for
candidates desiring to practice geodetic engineering in the Philippines
shall be given by the Board twice a year in the City of Manila or at
such other place as may be deemed necessary and expedient by the Board,
subject to the approval of the Commissioner of Civil Service and the
President of the Philippines.
SECTION 17. Scope of Examination. — The Examination
of the practice of geodetic engineering in the Philippines shall
consist of written tests, which shall cover mathematics, theory and
practical problems in surveying including problems in isolated,
cadastral and mineral land surveys, cartography, laws on property and
registration of title thereto, geodesy and other subjects which the
Board may prescribe for the standard curriculum as approved by the
Department of Education.
SECTION 18. Ratings in the Examination. — In order to
pass the examination, a candidate must obtain an average rating of
seventy per cent, with no rating below fifty percent in any subject:
provided, that an applicant, who fails to obtain a passing average
rating but who obtained at least seventy percent in each of at least
one-half (1/2) of the total subjects given in the examination, may be
permitted to take within two years from the date of his first
examination, another examination on the subjects in which he obtained a
grade below seventy percent. Should the examinee still fail in the set
of subjects repeated in the second examination, he shall be required to
take all the subjects in the next examination.
SECTION 19. Report of Results of Examination. — The
Board shall, within one hundred and twenty days after the examination,
report the result thereof to the Commissioner of Civil Service, who
shall, with his recommendation, submit such result to the President of
the Philippines for approval.
Sec. 20. Issuance of Certificates. — A Certificate
of registration for geodetic engineer shall be issued to any applicant
who passes the examination after the approval of his ratings by the
President of the Philippines and upon payment of the required fees:
provided, that upon payment of the required fees, the Board may issue
within a period of not exceeding two years from the approval of this
Act, a certificate of registration as geodetic engineer, without the
necessity of undergoing the examination herein prescribed, to any
applicant who, on the date of the approval of this Act:
(a) Is a holder of a registration certificate as
private, or mineral, or cadastral land surveyor granted under Act
Numbered Thirty-six Hundred and Twenty-Six as Amended; or
(b) Is a graduate of a recognized course in surveying
and has passed the Civil Service examination as assistant surveyor, or
surveyor, or assistant mineral land surveyor, or mineral land surveyor,
or senior cartographer, or supervising computer, and has practiced
field surveying for at least twenty years in and/or out of the
government service; or
(c) Is a commissioned line officer of the Bureau of
Coast and Geodetic Survey or a retired officer of the said Bureau who
have had at least five (5) years of continuous active service as a
commissioned line officer at the time of his retirement.
Every certificate of registration shall show the full name of the
registrant with a serial number, and shall be signed by the members of
the Board, attested to by the Secretary of the Board of Examiners and
duly authenticated by the official seal of the Board.
The certificate of registration issued by the Board to the registrant
shall be evidence that the person named therein is entitled to the
rights and privileges of a registered geodetic engineer while said
certificate remains in force or unrevoked.
Sec. 21. Oath of Geodetic Engineers. — All
registrants under this Act shall be required to take a professional
oath before the Board or before any person authorized to administer
oaths, before commencing the practice of his profession.
Sec. 22. Seal of Geodetic Engineers. — Each
registered geodetic engineer shall obtain a seal of such design as the
Board shall authorize and prescribe. Plans and technical descriptions
prepared by or under the direct supervision of a registered geodetic
engineer shall be stamped with said seal. The geodetic engineer shall
be fully responsible for all plans, technical descriptions, and other
documents under his seal or authorized signature. The Board shall make
all necessary rules and regulations relating to the use of authorized
signatures and seals on plans, maps, technical and lot descriptions,
reports and other survey returns and documents registered by geodetic
engineers.
Sec. 23. Fees for examination and registration. —
Every applicant for the examination shall pay an examination fee of
forty-five pesos, and a registration fee of ten pesos.
Every applicant for registration without prior examination shall pay a
fee of fifty-five pesos.
The fee for a duplicate certificate shall be ten pesos.
Every practicing Geodetic Engineer shall pay an annual registration fee
of two pesos which shall be paid on or before April 30 of every ensuing
year.
All fees shall be paid to the disbursing officer of the Board of
Examiners, and such officer shall pay from the receipts thereof all the
authorized expenses of the Board, including the compensation of each
member.
Sec. 24. Refusal to issue a certificate in certain
cases. — The Board shall refuse to issue a certificate of registration
to any person convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction of any
crime involving moral turpitude, to any person of immoral or
dishonorable conduct, and to any person of unsound mind, furnishing the
party concerned with a written statement containing the reason or
reasons for such action, which statement shall be incorporated in the
records of the Board.
Sec. 25. Revocation and suspension of
certificates. — The Board shall also have the power to revoke or
suspend the validity of a certificate of registration as Geodetic
Engineer issued to any registrant for any of the causes mentioned in
the preceding section, or for unprofessional or unethical conduct,
malpractice, incompetence, or where fraud, deceit or false statement
was employed in obtaining said certificate of registration.
Sec. 26. Appeal from Judgment. — The decision of
the Board of Examiners for Geodetic Engineers shall become final after
thirty days from the date of its promulgation, unless within said
period any interested party has perfected an appeal to the Office of
the Commissioner of Civil Service by filing a notice of appeal. The
decision of the Commissioner of Civil Service is appealable, within
thirty days from receipt of a copy of such decision, to the Office of
the President of the Philippines whose decision shall be final.
Sec. 27. Reinstatement and replacement of
Certificates. — The Board may, upon application and for reasons of
equity and justice, reinstate the validity of a suspended certificate,
or issue another certificate in lieu of one previously revoked, upon
payment of the required fees, at least two years after such suspension
or revocation.
A new certificate of registration to replace any certificate lost,
destroyed or mutilated, may be issued subject to the rules of the Board
and upon payment of the required fee.
Sec. 28. Corporation cannot register. — The
practice of geodetic engineering is a professional service, admission
to which shall be determined upon the basis of individual and personal
qualifications. No firm, company, partnership, association or
corporation may be registered or licensed as such for the practice of
geodetic engineering: provided, that this section shall not be
construed as preventing any combination of geodetic engineers from
using the term "Geodetic Engineer"; provided, further, that majority of
the members of the partnership, firm or association are properly
registered and licensed geodetic engineers.
Members of the partnership, firm or association are responsible for
their own individual acts.
Sec. 29. Penal Provisions. — The following shall
be punished by a fine of not less than two hundred pesos nor more than
five thousand pesos, or by imprisonment for not less than six months
nor more than six years, or both, in the discretion of the Court:
(a) Any person not exempt from registration who shall
practice geodetic engineering in the Philippines within the meaning of
this Act, without holding a valid certificate of registration issued in
accordance with this Act;
(b) Any person who shall give any false or fraudulent
statement to the Board in order to obtain a certificate of registration
as geodetic engineer;
(c) Any person who shall present or use as his own a
certificate of registration issued to another under this Act:
(d) Any person who shall use a revoked or suspended
certificate of registration as geodetic engineer;
(e) Any person who shall assume, use or advertise as
geodetic engineer, or append to his name, letters or words tending to
convey the impression that he is a registered geodetic engineer when in
fact he is not duly registered with the Board as such;
(f) Any geodetic engineer, or any person on his
behalf, who shall stamp or seal any document with his seal after his
certificate of registration has expired or has been suspended or
revoked;
(g) Any geodetic engineer who shall sign his name,
affix his seal, or use any other method of signature on plans,
technical descriptions, or other documents prepared by or under another
geodetic engineer's supervision, unless the same is prepared in such a
manner as to clearly indicate the part or parts of such work actually
performed by the former;
(h) Any person, except the geodetic engineer in
charge, who shall sign for any branch of the surveying work, or any
function or surveying practice not actually performed by him; and
(i) Any person who shall violate any provision of
this Act.
Sec. 30. Enforcement of this Act by officers of
the law. — It shall be the duty of all duly constituted officers of the
law, of the National Government or of any provincial, city or municipal
government, to enforce the provisions of this Act and to prosecute any
person violating the same. The Secretary of Justice shall act as legal
adviser to the Board and shall render such legal assistance as may be
necessary in carrying out the provisions of this Act.
Sec. 31. Foreign Reciprocity. — No foreigner shall
be admitted to examination or registration as geodetic engineer under
this Act unless he proves in the manner provided for by the Rules of
Court that, by specific provisions of law, the country of which he is a
citizen, subject or national, admit Filipino citizens to the practice
of geodetic engineering after an examination on terms of strict and
absolute equality with the citizens, subjects or nationals of said
country, including the unconditional recognition of prerequisite
degrees issued by institutions of learning duly recognized by the
Government of the Philippines.
Sec. 32. Repealing Clause. — All laws, executive
orders, rules, regulations or parts thereof in conflict with the
provision of this Act, are hereby repealed or amended accordingly.
Sec. 33. Separability of Provisions. — If any
provision of this Act or any portion thereof is declared
unconstitutional by any competent court, the other provisions thereof
shall not be affected thereby.
Sec. 34. Effectivity. — This Act shall take effect
upon its approval.
Approved: June 19, 1965
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