REPUBLIC ACT NO. 5680 - AN
ACT CREATING THE BOARD OF EXAMINERS FOR PHYSICAL THERAPISTS AND
OCCUPATIONAL THERAPISTS
Section 1. Short title of Act. — This Act shall be known as
the Philippine Physical and Occupational Therapy Law.
Sec. 2. Definition of Terms. — As used in this
Act, the following terms shall mean:
(a) Physical therapy is the art and science of
treatment by means of therapeutic exercises, heat, cold, light, water,
manual manipulation, electricity, and other physical agents.
(b) Physical therapy technician is a person, who not
having acquired a bachelor's degree in Physical Therapy is qualified
through in-service training and practical experience to assist in the
application of physiotherapeutic procedures and to undertake specific
assignments as directed by a qualified physical therapist in carrying
out the prescription of a licensed physician. Such assignments shall be
confined within the limits of a hospital or institution of employment.
(c) Rehabilitation medicine, at the patient level, is
the "clinical management of the problems associated with disability,
with the objective of improving to the maximum level the physical,
socio-economic and physiological functioning of a disabled individual.
Medical rehabilitation is an integrated part of the total medical care.
Total rehabilitation is best achieved through the coordinated work of
various health disciplines like medicine, psychology, social work,
physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech and hearing, nursing,
vocational evaluation, dietetics, and special education."
(d) Physical therapist is a person legally qualified
and licensed to practice physical therapy under this Act.
(e) Physiatrist is a legally qualified and licensed
physician specializing in the practice of rehabilitation medicine.
( f ) Occupational therapy is a paramedical
discipline concerned with the administration of medically prescribed
treatment, in the form of supervised activity, to persons disabled by
disease or injury. The objective of occupational therapy is to
contribute to the development of the disabled person's independence, to
improve his emotional, social, and physical well-being and his ability
to care for himself both at home and on the job, and to begin early
evaluations and experimentation for future job training and employment.
Occupational therapy may be prescribed by a general medical
practitioner or a specialist in any of the recognized branches of
medicine and is administered under the direction of a registered
occupational therapist.
(g) Occupational therapists is a legally qualified
person licensed to practice occupational therapy under this Act and who
by accepted academic training and professional clinical experience
possesses the knowledge and skills to achieve the objectives as defined
and set by the occupational therapy profession. The occupational
therapist functions through the use of the basic methods, approaches
and procedures of occupational therapy (creative, manipulative,
educational, pre-vocational evaluation and self-care activities) which
are designed to assess and develop the actual and potential abilities
of the individual.
The occupational therapist plans, organizes, evaluates, and
participates in a medically oriented treatment program to assist the
disabled person towards physical independence, productivity, and
constructive personal or social relationship.
The occupational therapist functions in general and special hospitals,
rehabilitation and welfare centers, pediatric clinics, psychiatric
clinics, specialized schools, geriatric institutions, home care
programs, and work-adjustment units.
(h) Occupational therapy technician or assistant is a
person who, not having acquired a bachelor's degree in occupational
therapy, is qualified, as determined by a bona fide national
professional association of occupational therapists in the Philippines
through in-service training and practical experience, to function as an
assistant to and under the direct supervision of an occupational
therapist to assist in rehabilitating patients in hospitals and similar
institutions.
(i) Disability is a loss or reduction of a person's
capacity to effectively cope with the demands of his environment as a
result of disease or injury, including birth trauma.
Sec. 3. Board of Examiners for Physical Therapists
and Occupational Therapists. — There is hereby created a Board of
Examiners for Physical Therapists and Occupational Therapists,
hereinafter called the Board, to be composed of a chairman and four
members who shall be appointed by the President of the Philippines with
the consent of the Commission of Appointments. The chairman shall be a
physiatrist and four members shall be two professionally qualified
occupational therapists and two professionally qualified physical
therapists. The physiatrist shall be appointed from lists of qualified
physiatrists, submitted by the society of physical medicine and
rehabilitation and the occupational therapists and physical therapists
by their respective bona fide national professional organization or
association and submitted to the President of the Philippines through
the Commissioner of Civil Service. Succeeding Boards shall consist of a
chairman who shall be a physiatrist recommended and appointed as
hereinabove stated, two members who shall be registered physical
therapists recommended by the Philippine Physical Therapy Association,
and two members who shall be registered occupational therapists who
shall be recommended by the Occupational Therapy Association of the
Philippines Incorporated. The chairman and members of the board shall
be appointed within six months upon the approval of this Act.
Sec. 4. Qualifications of Board Members. — The
chairman and members of the Board, at the time of their appointment,
shall each be:
(a) A citizen and resident of the Philippines for at
least five years;
(b) At least thirty-five years of age if he is a
chairman, or thirty years of age if he is a member;
(c) Of good moral character and must not have been
convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude;
(d) A physiatrist if he is the chairman, or a holder
of a bachelor's degree in physical therapy or occupational therapy with
at least five years experience as a physical therapist or occupational
therapist as the case may be; and
(e) Not a member of the faculty of any school,
college or university conferring a bachelor's degree in physical
therapy or occupational therapy as a major study at the time of his
appointment nor have any pecuniary interest, directly or indirectly, in
any such institution: Provided, That this subparagraph shall not be
applicable to the chairman and members of the first Board.
Sec. 5. Powers and Duties of the Board. — The
Board shall have the following powers and duties:
(a) To issue, suspend, revoke, or re-issue any
certificate of registration for the practice of physical therapy or
occupational therapy as defined in this Act;
(b) To study, promote and improve the conditions of
the practice of physical therapy and occupational therapy in the
Philippines;
(c) To give examinations to applicants for the
practice of physical therapy and occupational therapy in accordance
with the provisions of this Act;
(d) To look into the conditions affecting the
practice of physical therapy and occupational therapy in the
Philippines and, whenever necessary, adopt such measures as may be
proper for the maintenance of good ethics and high professional
standard in the practice of such professions;
(e) To study the condition affecting physical therapy
and occupational therapy education; to study and examine the facilities
and prescribe the basic curricula of any school, college or university
seeking permission to open or offering physical therapy or occupational
therapy program or course; and to require the employment of qualified
members of the faculty in such educational institutions. No school,
college or university shall be authorized to offer courses in physical
therapy or occupational therapy without the favorable written
recommendation of the Board;
( f ) To exercise such other powers, functions and
duties as may be necessary to carry into effect the purposes of this
Act and to maintain an efficient, ethical, moral and professional
standard in the practice of physical and occupational therapy in the
Philippines.
Sec. 6. Term of Office of Board Members. — The
Chairman and members of the Board shall hold office for a term of three
years and until their successors shall have been appointed and
qualified: Provided, That of the first Board, two members, a physical
therapist and an occupational therapist, shall hold office for a term
of two years and the other two members belonging to the same two
professions shall hold office for a term of three years. Any vacancy in
the Board for any cause other than the expiration of the term shall be
filled by appointment until the expiration of the term of the member to
be replaced.
Sec. 7. Removal of Members. — Any member of the
Board may be removed by the President of the Philippines for neglect of
duty, incompetence, malpractice, or unprofessional, unethical immoral
or dishonorable conduct after having been given the opportunity to
defend himself in a proper administrative investigation: Provided, That
pending the final disposition of the case against him, a member may be
suspended by the President and another appointed to fill the temporary
vacancy in the Board.
Sec. 8. Executive Officer of the Board. — The
Commissioner of Civil Service shall be 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. The
Secretary of the Board of examiners appointed in accordance with
Section ten of Republic Act Numbered Four thousand seven, as amended,
shall be the Secretary of the Board. All records of administrative
proceedings and investigations of the Board shall be kept by the Civil
Service Commission.
The Secretary of the Board shall keep separate registers of all persons
to whom certificates of registration for the practice of physical
therapy and occupational therapy, respectively, have been issued. Such
registers shall contain the name and sex of the physical therapist or
the occupational therapist registered therein and the name of the
school, college or university from which he graduated or in which he
studied. He shall keep such register up to date.
Sec. 9. Compensation of Board Members. — The
members of the Board shall each receive as compensation the sum of ten
pesos for each applicant examined. Any member of the Board who is in
the service of the Government shall receive the compensation herein
provided in addition to his salary.
SECTION 10. Rules and Regulations. — Subject to
approval of the President of the Philippines and with the advice of the
Commissioner of Civil Service, the Board shall adopt rules and
regulations to carry out the provisions of this Act and shall set
ethical and professional standards for the practice of physical therapy
and occupational therapy in the Philippines.
SECTION 11. Annual Report. — The Board shall submit
an annual report to the President of the Philippines and the President
of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives after the
close of each fiscal year, giving a detailed account of the proceedings
of the Board during the year and embodying such recommendations as the
Board may desire to make.
SECTION 12. Inhibition Against the Practice of
Physical Therapy and Occupational therapy. — No person shall practice
or offer to practice physical therapy or occupational therapy in the
Philippines as defined in this Act, without the prescription of a duly
registered physician and a valid certificate of registration as a
physical therapist or an occupational therapist, as the case may be,
issued by the Board of Examiners for Physical Therapists and
Occupational Therapists.
A person shall be deemed to be practicing physical therapy within the
meaning of this Act, who for a free or other consideration applies or
advises the use of heat, cold, light, electricity or other means for
the treatment or prevention of disorders of neuro-muscular or
musculo-skeletal systems of the human body or subject a patient to
passive mobilization of physical rehabilitation procedures repeatedly.
A person shall be deemed to be practicing occupational therapy within
the meaning of this Act who, for a free or other consideration, applies
or advises the use of occupational therapy treatment media as herein
defined, or other occupational means for the treatment or prevention of
disorders of the physical or psychological formation of the human body,
or subjects a patient to occupational therapy procedures repeatedly.
SECTION 13. Exemptions. — Nothing in this Act shall
be construed to apply or affect the practice of (a) any registered
physician; (b) any physical therapy or occupational therapy student as
part of their undergraduate training in an approved school, college or
university for medical therapy or occupational therapy, as the case may
be; (c) all physical therapists who are already in the government
service who become eligible by virtue of the testimonial examination
given by the Civil Service Commission on December twenty-nine, nineteen
hundred and sixty-seven in the City of Manila.
SECTION 14. Holding of Examinations. — Except as
otherwise specifically provided, all applicants for registration for
the practice of physical therapy in the Philippines shall be given by
the Board on the first Saturday of June and December of each year, and
for the practice of occupational therapy one week thereafter, at the
City of Manila or at such other places as may be deemed necessary or
expedient by the Board, subject to the approval of the Commissioner of
Civil Service and the President of the Philippines.
SECTION 15. Qualification of Applicants. — In order
to be admitted to the physical therapists' examination or the
occupational therapists' examination, as the case may be, an applicant
must, at the time of the filing of his or her application, establish to
the satisfaction of the Board that:
(a) He is a citizen of the Philippines, or if a
foreigner, must prove that the country of which he is a subject or
citizen permits Filipino physical therapists or occupational therapists
to practice within its territorial jurisdiction on the same basis as
the subjects or citizens of such country;
(b) He is at least twenty-one years of age;
(c) He is of good health and of good moral character;
(d) He has finished a standard academic high school
course or its equivalent in a school, college or university legally
established or duly recognized by the government;
(e) He has received a degree, if he is an applicant
for the physical therapy examination, in Physical Therapy from a school
of physical therapy duly recognized by the Government: Provided, That
such educational institution offers at least the following academic
subjects prior to the admission in the main physical therapy course,
namely, English, Mathematics, Speech, Political Science Social Science,
Humanities, Psychology, Spanish, Physics, Zoology and Chemistry:
Provided, further, That such educational institution offers at least
the following academic subjects in the main therapy course, namely:
Anatomy Physiology, Applied Kinesiology, Introduction to Nursing,
Theory and Practice of Massage, Electrotherapy, Prosthetics, Splinting,
Bandaging and Plasterwork, Exercise Therapy, General Medical and
Surgical Conditions, Neurological and Orthopedic Conditions, Principles
of Rehabilitation, Pathology, Proprioceptive Neuromuscular
Facilitation, Selected Medical and Surgical Conditions, Administration
and Ethics, Medical Psychology; or
He has received a degree, if he is an applicant for the occupational
therapy examination, in Occupational Therapy or any other title of
equivalent standard from a school of occupational therapy duly
recognized by the Government: Provided, That such educational
institution offers at least the following academic subjects prior to
admission in the main occupational therapy course, namely, English,
Spanish, Humanities, Zoology, Chemistry, Sociology, Philippine History
and Works of Rizal, Mathematics: Provided, further, That such
educational institution offers at least the following academic subjects
in the main occupational therapy course, namely. Biological Sciences
consisting of Human Anatomy and Physiology, Neuro-anatomy and
Neurophysiology, and Kinesiology (Principles of Human Motion);
Behavioral Sciences consisting of Human Development, Personality
Development, Group Processes, Interpersonal and Interprofessional
Relationships; Physical and Psychological Dysfunction Basic, General
Pathology subjects including General and Medical Conditions,
Neurological and Orthopedic Conditions, Pediatrics and Psychiatry;
Occupational Therapy Skills consisting of Creative and Manual Arts,
Vocational and Avocational Activities, Daily Living Skills and Teaching
Techniques; Occupational Therapy Orientation Evaluation and Treatment,
Principles of Physical and Psychosocial Dysfunctions consisting of
Organization and Administration, General Medical and Surgical
Conditions, Neurological and Orthopedic Conditions, Psychology,
Prevocational;
( f ) He has completed at least nine months of
internship in Physical Therapy in an adequate Physical Therapy
Department of a hospital or clinic as certified by the Department of
Health; or has at least nine months clinical experience under the
supervision of a competent and duly registered occupational therapist
in an accredited hospital or institution, as the case may be. Clinical
experience shall include the effective treatment of psychosocial and
physical dysfunctions of patients of wide age range and of both sexes.
SECTION 16. Scope of Examination. — The examinations
for the practice of physical therapy and occupational therapy in the
Philippines shall consist of written and practical examinations of the
scope which shall be determined by the Board, taking into consideration
the teaching plan of the schools legally constituted in the
Philippines. It shall be the duty of the Board to prepare the schedule
of subjects mentioned in subparagraph (e) of the preceding section of
this Act, as well as practical and clinical examinations of all
candidates, and to submit the same to the President of the Philippines
for approval through the Commissioner of Civil Service, and to publish
the same as approved at least two months before the date of the
examination wherein such subjects are to be used. Any alteration or
amendment that may be made in the schedule of subjects shall likewise
be approved by the President.
SECTION 17. Ratings in the Examination. — In order to
pass the first examination, a candidate must obtain a general rating of
not below seventy-five per cent in the written examination with no
rating below sixty per cent. Any applicant who failed in the first
examination but obtained seventy-five per cent in each of at least five
of the subjects may be permitted to take a second examination within
one year from the date of the first examination. In order to pass in
the second examination, the examinee must obtain a rating of not below
seventy-five per cent in each of the subjects repeated: Provided, That
an applicant who failed in the set of subjects repeated in the second
examination must take a re-examination in all the subjects within one
year from the date of the second examination: Provided, further, That
should he still fail in the third re-examination, the applicant shall
be required to undertake a prescribed course of study and to show proof
of the completion of such course before he will be admitted to the
fourth examination.
SECTION 18. Report of the Results of the
Examinations. — The Board of Examiners for Physical Therapists and
Occupational Therapists shall, within one hundred twenty days after
each examination, report the ratings obtained by each candidate to the
Commissioner of Civil Service, who shall, with his recommendation,
submit such ratings to the President of his approval.
SECTION 19. Issuance of Certificates. — Certificates
of registration as physical therapist or occupational therapist shall
be issued to any applicant who passes the respective examination after
approval of his ratings by the President of the Philippines and upon
payment of the required fees. Every certificate of registration shall
show the full name of the registrant, have a serial number, bear the
signatures of the members of the Board attested by the Secretary of the
Board and duly authenticated by the seal of the Board of Examiners for
Physical Therapists and Occupational Therapists.
The issuance of certificate of registration by the Board to the
registrant shall evidence that the person named therein is entitled to
all rights and privileges of a registered physical therapist or a
registered occupational therapist, as the case may be, until the said
certificate for just cause, is revoked temporarily or cancelled. For
all intents and purposes of this Act the members of the first Board
shall be considered as having duly qualified and registered as
occupational therapists and physical therapists as the case may be.
Sec. 20. Initial. — The initials PTRP and OTRP,
which stands for Physical Therapist Registered, Philippines and
Occupational Therapist Registered, Philippines, may be added after the
name of the physical therapist or occupational therapist, as the case,
may be, who successfully passes the examination given by the Board.
Sec. 21. Registration by reciprocity. — Any
physical therapist, physiatrist or occupational therapist holding valid
certificate of registration issued under the laws of a foreign country
may practice his profession in the Philippines without passing an
examination given by the Board if the requirements for the registration
and licensing of a physical therapist, physiatrist of occupational
therapist in such foreign country are substantially the same as those
provided for in this Act and that the laws of such country or state
grant the same privileges to physical therapists, physiatrists and
occupational therapists registered in the Philippines on the same basis
as the subjects or citizens of such country or state.
Sec. 22. Examination and Registration Fees. —
Applicants for examination for the profession physical therapy or
occupational Therapy shall pay an examination fee of twenty-five pesos
each. Successful applicants shall pay a registration fee of ten pesos
each.
Sec. 23. Refusal to Issue Certificate in Certain
Cases. — The Board of Examiners for Physical Therapists and
Occupational Therapists shall not issue a certificate of registration
to any person convicted of any criminal offense involving moral
turpitude by a court of competent jurisdiction, and to any person
guilty of illegal practice, unethical advertising, or other immoral or
dishonorable conduct. The Board shall give the applicant a written
statement of the reason or reasons for its action, which statement
shall be incorporated in the records of the Board.
Sec. 24. Re-issuance of Revoked Certificate and
Replacement of Lost Certificate. — The Board may, for reason of equity
and justice and upon proper application therefor, issue another copy,
original or duplicate, upon the payment of ten pesos, of a certificate
which has been revoked. A new certificate of registration to replace a
lost, destroyed or mutilated certificate may be issued subject to the
rules of the Board and upon the payment of ten pesos.
Sec. 25. Professional Licenses Fees. — A
registered physical therapist or occupational therapist shall pay a
professional license fee of fifty pesos per annum, payable annually or
semi-annually.
Sec. 26. All laws, parts of laws, orders, or
ordinances, or regulations in conflict with the provisions of this Act
pertaining to physical or occupational therapeutic duty and practice
shall be, and are hereby repealed.
Sec. 27. Prohibition in the Practice of Physical
Therapy or Occupational Therapy; Penalty. — Any person who shall
practice Physical Therapy or Occupational Therapy in the Philippines
within the meaning of this Act, without a valid certificate of
registration issued by the Board of Examiners for Physical Therapists
and Occupational Therapists, or any person presenting as his or her own
the certificate of another, or any person giving any false or forged
evidence to the Board in order to obtain a certificate of registration
or admission to an examination, or any person assuming or advertising
himself or herself as a registered physical therapist or registered
occupational therapist, or any person violating any provision of
conduct shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall, upon conviction, be
sentenced to pay a fine of not less than one thousand pesos nor more
than five thousand pesos or to suffer imprisonment for a period of not
less than one year nor more than five years, or both such fine and
imprisonment at the discretion of the Court.
Sec. 28. This Act shall take effect upon its
approval.
Approved: June 21, 1969.
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