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By William B. Depasupil, Reporter
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)
has full supervision and control over the Professional Regulations
Commission (PRC), except on matters related to its quasi-judicial
functions, according to the Department of Justice.
Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez issued the
opinion in response to a query by then Acting Labor and Employment
Secretary Romeo Lagman on the extent of the powers delegated to the
Labor secretary by Executive Order 565-A issued by President Gloria
Arroyo on October 9, 2006.
The order attaches the commission to Labor for
general direction and coordination and delegates to the Labor
secretary the President’s power of supervision and control over
the agency. The order amends Executive Order 565 issued on September
11, 2006.
The President came out with the new order in a
bid to restore the integrity of board examinations and erase the
stigma brought about by the test leakage on the June 2006 nursing
board examination.
Gonzalez justified the opinion based on the
provisions of Executive Order 565-A itself, particularly sections 1
and 2.
Section 1 states, “The Secretary of Labor and
Employment shall additionally have supervision and control of the
PRC.” Section 2 provides that the Labor secretary has the
authority to “generally oversee the operations of the PRC and to
ensure that it is managed effectively, efficiently and economically,
but without interference with day-to-day activities.”
The Professional Regulations Commission’s
quasi-judicial function includes the licensing or enabling powers,
such as the power to issue a license to practice nursing.
Gonzalez explained that quasi-judicial power is
the power of the administrative agency to determine questions of
fact to which the legislative policy is to apply, in accordance with
the law.
Quasi-legislative function refers to the power
to issue rules and regulations to implement a particular law or
policy, while administrative function includes the commissioner’s
power to accept applications to take the nursing examination.
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