The four layers of organizations

QUESTION: Rltr. John, what are the different kinds of professional organizations in real estate service sector in Philippines?

ANSWER: APO means Accredited Professional Organization. Simply, it is a Professional Organization that is Accredited in Professional Regulations Commission (PRC). Below are the different layers of APO status of organizations.

LAYER 1. Prospective APO. These are Groups, Associations, and Organizations who do not have PRC APO Accreditation Certificate but are somewhat "potential" or "prospective" to have such Certificate. At present, we have IPORESP, REBAP, PAREB, IPREC, PARCS, IPREA, PARA, CREBA, NREA, PRFI, IPSAP, PHALTRA, PAMAS, PAAO, SHDA, PHILCORE, OSHDP, AVA, SUPRA, FREBA, SIRCRO, PABA NORMINAREA, etc. Some of these Prospective APOs already have SEC Registration but they don't have PRC-accreditation as Professional Organizations.

There are some people who erroneously use the term "Kindred Organizations/Associations" to refer to these Prospective APOs. The term "kindred" can only be used when the members of the organization are all next-of-kin, or a clan, or family related to one another.

LAYER 2. Interim APO. When a Prospective APO formally expresses its intent to PRC to apply for APO Certification, the PRC will right away issue an Interim APO Certificate so that the applicant can register in SEC. Interim APOs are organizations who have PRC-issued Interim APO Certificate. Interim APO Certificate has a short expiration date and is only granted for the sole purpose of SEC Registration under the category of Professional Organization or Professional Association. As of this writing date, the real estate service sector only have two organizations who passed this layer, and that is the FRESA and PHILRES. FRESA was the federation of associations during DTI times and PHILRES is a brand new coalition of a few RESPs.

LAYER 3. APO. After the Interim APO gets its SEC Registration Certificate, it will return to PRC to apply for APO Certification (this time it is no longer Interim that it is applying for). If the organization passes the requirements enumerated in PRC Resolution 2004-178, the PRC will issue an APO Certificate to the organization. These are Organizations who have met and maintained the requirement of the PRC Rules on APO Accreditation and is already issued an APO Certificate.

There can be several APOs in any profession, each must have number of members representing at least 50% of the licensed members under their class or geographical category (i.e. Broker's Organization, Appraisers Association, Cebu Brokers, etc). For example, if your organization's By-Laws indicate that your membership covers "NCR Appraisers", then you will be required that your membership sign-ups must be at least 50% of the PRC-licensed Appraisers in National Capital Region (NCR) in order to become an APO and maintain your APO status; and your APO certificate can be cancelled at the moment your membership number falls below 50% of the Appraisers in NCR.

The PRC have neither administrative powers, nor supervisory power, over groups, associations, and organization that does not possess a PRC-Accreditation as an APO; hence, the PRC must be lenient in approving APO applications and yet prudent also in following existing rules and regulations.

Only organizations with APO status have the right to join AIPO Formation meetings. We only have one organization that reached this stage due to lack of due-diligence in PRC adjudication, that is PHILRES; but PHILRES APO status can be cancelled anytime because its number of members is way below 50% of its coverage.

LAYER 4. AIPO or NIO. You will encounter these terminologies in sec 34 of RA 9646 and also in PRC Resolution 2004-178. AIPO means Accredited and Integrated Professional Organization. NIO means National Integrated Organization, or sometimes they interchange it to INO which means Integrated National Organization. These two terms are the same. The AIPO is the INTEGRATION of the APOs and the RESP INDIVIDUALS who are not members of any Association. There can only be ONE AIPO because it is the NATIONAL INTEGRATION of ALL. We have no AIPO yet at this time.

If you notice, the APO have 50% minimum membership in its class and geographical category; but the AIPO uses the keyword "ALL", which means is 100%. ALL professionals are members of their respective AIPO, and the RA 9646 used the terminology "AUTOMATIC MEMBERS" to make this clearly understood.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS PORTION

QUESTION 1. Sir John, I am a member of IPORESP, as far as RA 9646 Sec 34 AIPO Formation is concerned, am I considered as part of the Association or part of the Individuals?

Answer: IPORESP started recruiting as early as 2009 and we have already achieved dominance in terms of number of members at present. Nevertheless, you are part of the Individuals because IPORESP does not have APO certificate yet. IPORESP just started applying for APO status on 8 November 2012.

QUESTION 2. Sir John, how about me, I am a member of IPORESP, PAREB, REBAP and CREBA, as far as RA 9646 Sec 34 AIPO Formation is concerned, am I classified as part of the Association or Individuals?

Answer: You are considered as an Individual because the organizations you are a member of do not have APO certificates yet.

QUESTION 3. Sir John, may I ask a question for myself, I am a member of CREBA and I signed up in PHILRES, as far as RA 9646 Sec 34 AIPO Formation is concerned, am I classified as part of the Association or Individuals?

Answer: You are classified under the Association.

QUESTION 4. Sir John, can PRC suppress the formation, recruitment, and advocacy of Prospective APOs?

Answer: PRC can't because they have no legal basis. If PRC intends to suppress the Prospective APOs for the purpose of promoting a particular "favorite" APO, the only way PRC can do that is wait for these Prospective APOs to get APO Certification. PRC can neither regulate nor administer upon any organization that has no APO Certificate.

The existence of prospective APOs and APOs are protected by the Philippine Constitution and by RA 9646.

QUESTION 5. Sir John, can PRC command a revision of By-Laws on a particular APO who is in the verge of cancellation because of failure to meet the APO Certification requirement?

Answer: PRC is an adjudicator and administrator of APO Accreditation. It would be "improper" for an adjudicator and administrator to dip its finger on the internal matters of the organization it is administering. Adjudicators only have two function, that is TO APPROVE or TO CANCEL/DISAPPROVE.

Para bang examinee. Ang trabaho ng PRC is to administer the exam and adjudicate a pass or failure. Hindi pwede ang PRC na mag sit beside the examinee to help him pass the exam, neither can PRC ask people around to sit beside the examinee to coach him/her.

QUESTION 6. Sir John, they said that AIPO Formation is a long and difficult process. Do you believe this?

Answer: No I don't. Ang nagsasabi lang nyan ay yung hindi alam ang ginagawa. Actually, it is very easy but I am not willing to share my wisdom because it might be stolen by our competitors.

Our IPORESP members are embedded in almost all other associations. I receive timely reports on results of online discussions in other groups. So far, maraming opinions and reactions ang mga tao, pero wala pa ako na detect na may iba pang nakaka-alam kung anong gawin. IPORESP still has the monopoly of wisdom on how to go about making the AIPO possible. Hangga't nagmamagaling pa yang iba dyan, lie low lang tayo, we will use time to expand our membership base, we wait for them to settle down and surrender before we come in.

I guarantee you, once IPORESP gets APO Certification, an unquestionable genuine AIPO will be formed in just a blink of an eye. If I cannot form the AIPO in two months after we get our APO Certificate, I will surrender na the struggle if that is what they want.

QUESTION 7. Sir John, what will happen if PRB-RES-PRC will not adjudicate a request for APO Certification of a particular association?

Answer: Just make sure you make your application letter stamped received by PRC. There is a Civil Service Rule that says if the request is not acted upon within 15 working days, it is considered automatically and may legally presumed to be APPROVED. Example in the case of IPORESP, its APO application was received by PRC 8 Nov 2012, so if PRC will fail to respond to it in 15 working days, the IPORESP is presumed to be already an APO per Civil Service Rule.