A
seven-man Legislation Committee with proven leadership capabilities were
appointed last July 6, 2004 to review the proposed amendments to
the
“Philippine Dental Act of 1965” and the passage of a revised and new Dental Act.
The committee headed by Dr. Diampo J.
Lim (former Dean UE College of Dentistry & PDA Past President) has six
members namely:
1)
Dr. Aurelio B.
Ramos, Jr. - former Dean UP College
of Dentistry & Past Chairman of the Board of Dentistry.
2)
Dr. Victor
Valdez- Past Speaker PDA House of
Delegates
3)
Dr. Primo E.
Gonzales- Former Chairman Board of
Dentistry & PDA Past President.
4)
Dr. Antonio A.
Baldemor- Former Chairman Board of
Dentistry.
5)
Dr. Norman R.
Songco- Chairman 100 years of
Philippine Dentistry
6)
Dr. Hermogenes
Villareal- PDA Past President
The Dental Act of 1965 has been in force for more than
four decades and certainly amendments are imperative to update and upgrade its
provisions to make it conform with present day realities and standards, and to
keep pace with current developments and activities of the profession and its allied
disciplines.
Fortunately,
a new and entirely revised Dental Act, was passed and approved during the Third
Special Session of the Thirteenth Congress of the Philippines and signed into
law by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on June 02,2007, as Republic Act
No.9484, and shall be known as the Philippine Dental Act of 2007.
R.A.
No.9484, is now in force and operation, and repeals R.A.No.4419, known as the
Philippine Dental Act of 1965, and R.A. No.768 or the Philippine Dental
Hygienists Law. The new Dental Act provides for the regulation, control, and
supervision of the practice of dentistry, dental hygiene, and dental technology
in the Philippines.
This includes the giving of their respective licensure examinations for the
purpose of registration, the accreditation of various specialties of dentistry,
and promotion and development of continuing dental education and research in
the country, and the enforcement of the Code of Ethics and Code of Dental
Practice in the Philippines.
In
lieu of the erstwhile Board of Dental Examiners, renamed the Board of
Dentistry, the new law created a Professional Regulatory Board of Dentistry
under the administrative control and supervision of the Professional Regulation
Commission (PRC), composed of a chairman and four members who shall be
appointed by the President. The Board shall be vested with all the powers and
functions necessary to carry out objectives of this present law.
The
penal provision for violation of this act, stipulates a fine of not less than
two hundred thousand pesos (P200,000) nor more than five hundred thousand pesos
(P500,000) or to suffer the imprisonment for a period of not less than two
years and one day nor more than five years, or both, in the discretion of the
court.
Over
the years of eager waiting, at last through the untiring efforts of the
Philippine Dental Association and with the cooperation of the Congress of the Philippines,
we finally realized to have a dental act with its provisions more attuned to
the prevailing state of the current times, now in force and effects.
