[ Manila Bulletin Online ] February 26, 2009
Mario Casayuran
The Senate, by a unanimous vote, approved on third and final reading Monday, Senate Bill 2063, to be known as the Real Estate Service Act (RESA), designed to professionalize the real estate industry, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said yesterday.
Enrile said the measure, once enacted into law, would help increase the contribution of the real estate industry to the economic progress and stability in the country by professionalizing its practitioners.
The complete title of the bill is "An Act Regulating the Practice of Real Estate Service in the Philippines , Creating for the Purpose a Professional Regulatory Board of Real Estate Service, Appropriating Funds therefore and for other Purposes.’’
Enrile explained the bill would establish an effective regulatory regime for the real estate service through the creation of Professional Board of Real Estate Service Board (PRESB) composed of highly respected practitioners.
The PRESB will be under the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC). The board will then be mandated to come up with measures that will professionalize the careers involved in the real estate industry.
Under the bill, Enrile explained, agents would be required to take licensure examination before becoming real estate brokers, real estate appraisers or real estate consultants.
Opposition Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson, one of the principal authors of the bill, said the measure seeks to form a pool of competent, disciplined and highly respected real estate service practitioners who could help stimulate the development of the country’s real estate industry.
During one of the public hearings on the bill, Philippine Association of Realtors Board (PAREB) national president Bobby Sy said the real estate industry contributes only roughly 6.6 percent to the national income, which is way below the 50 percent potential contribution.
Lacson said the creation of a professionalized corps of real estate practitioners would contribute in boosting revenue generation for the government on real property transactions, developing more confidence in the government valuation system, encouraging investment in the real property market, stimulating greater economic activity and generating more funds for poverty alleviation programs.
The other authors of the bill are Senators Miriam Defensor Santiago, Antonio Trillanes IV and Rodolfo G. Biazon, chairman of the Senate housing, resettlement and urban planning.
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