Philippine ambassador Wilfredo Santos: “The delegation can see how far we have progressed in terms of the quality of education when it comes to the engineering profession.”

By Peter Alagos/Business Reporter
A Qatari delegation from two government agencies will be meeting education and regulatory authorities in the Philippines to discuss accreditation issues of professionals working in Qatar, particularly engineers.
“Officials from the Urban Planning Development Authority and members of the Equivalency Committee of the Supreme Education Council (SEC) are headed for Manila this month to meet with the Commission on Higher Education (Ched) and Professional Regulation Commission (PRC),” ambassador Wilfredo Santos told Gulf Times.
The envoy has called on HE the Minister of Municipality and Urban Planning Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz al-Thani to discuss issues concerning the accreditation of Filipino engineers, architects, and other professionals in Qatar.
“Since the Philippines only implemented the K to 12 programme recently, graduates using the old curriculum lack two years. Because of this, authorities are not recognising the full equivalency of our diplomas,” Santos explained.
“In my meetings with Qatari officials, I always emphasise that Filipino engineers are already accredited as APEC Engineers and were given provisional recognition with the Washington Accord, the international agreement that assesses the equivalency of engineering programmes. By this acceptance, our engineering programmes are given worldwide recognition already,” he stated.
According to the International Engineering Alliance (IEA), several Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) member countries have signed an agreement that recognises “substantial equivalence” of professional competence in engineering.
In its website, the PRC stated that “Becoming an APEC Engineer of the Philippines may allow you to join overseas projects and practice your profession in APEC Engineer economies without having to undertake further examination or interview.”
Meanwhile, the IEA explained in its website that “The Washington Accord, signed in 1989, is an international agreement among bodies responsible for accrediting engineering
degree programmes.
“It recognises the substantial equivalency of programmes accredited by those bodies and recommends that graduates of programmes accredited by any of the signatory bodies be recognised by the other bodies as having met the academic requirements for entry to the practice of engineering.”
The ambassador said the Philippine government has already approved a one-year master’s programme in engineering to be conducted by the Mapua Institute of Technology and the Technological Institute of the Philippines (TIP).
“This is an opportunity for them to take up this master’s programme so they can be given full equivalency,” he said.
Santos said the Qatari delegation also intends to visit several universities that have produced the Philippines top engineering graduates such as the Manuel L Quezon University, Mapua, TIP, University of Santo Tomas, and De La Salle.
“The delegation can see how far we have progressed in terms of the quality of education when it comes to the engineering
profession,” Santos said.
He also stressed that the Philippine embassy in Qatar “is doing everything” to protect the interest of Filipino engineers and to work for the recognition of their full equivalency by the Qatar government.
“The important thing is that progress is being made on this issue. The Philippine government is aware of the problems they are facing; we cannot let their careers be delayed or stopped and hence we are in talks with authorities to convince them that our education system is at par with international education standards,” Santos added.