THE PRACTICE OF GEODETIC ENGINEERING IN THE PHILIPPINES
Patience is a virtue. A common saying that gives great impact for Geodetic Engineers. It requires responsibility, discipline and self-control in order to be called like one. It is an honor to be called such one and in line with it, is the importance of the practice of geodetic engineers in the society.
Before, Geodetic Engineering was not recognized. Until on December 5, 1929, an act was passed into law providing for a Board of Examiners for Surveyors, the Public Act No.3626. It is composed of five members, most of whom were practicing surveyors. The appointed chairman was Vicente Mills along with Demetrio Andres, Juan Coronado, Antonio Manahan and Ambrosio Zamora as members. It was then followed by the enactment of Republic Act No. 4374 which is the “Geodetic Engineering Law”. It is an act to regulate the practice of geodetic engineering in the Philippines. In accordance with this act, it stated that any person who is technically and legally qualified to practice geodetic engineering under this act shall be known “Geodetic Engineer” which term shall supersede “surveyor”. There were three kinds of surveyors administered by the Board of Examiners for Surveyors – for private land, cadastral land and mineral land surveyor. It was administered to maintain a community and morally qualified profession in their field. According to Republic Act No. 9200 section 2b, a Geodetic Engineer is a natural person who has been issued a certificate of registration by the Board of Geodetic Engineers and has taken an oath of profession of Geodetic Engineer. In order to make a land survey, Geodetic Engineer must meet the following qualifications. It must be a holder of the degree of Bachelor of Science in Geodetic Engineering from any school and must a board passer and other qualification set by the Professional Regulation Commission. Only duly licensed Geodetic Engineer and Junior Geodetic Engineer who are in service of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources may undertake public land surveys, private land surveys, government land surveys and other land surveys, subject to the administrative direction, control and supervision of the director of the Land Management Bureau through the Regional Technical Director for Land Management Services in consonance with the Revised Manual of Land Surveying Regulation in 1998.
A Geodetic Engineering job is in demand. Unfortunately, there is only a few numbers of graduates in this course. Thus, only a couple of applicants for the generated job vacancies. And it is very awful considering that it belongs to the list of “in demand and hard to fill” jobs in the country. Government agencies are steadily in need of Geodetic Engineers like DENR, DAR, DA, DPWH and NAMRIA. According to the journal of NCF, graduates of Geodetic Engineering can also expect more opportunities overseas as employment is forecasted to grow beyond 2014. The Middle East Asian countries like Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates and some foreign countries hiring Geodetic Engineers in the Philippines. Also, graduates of this course have varied opportunities for practice here in the country such as Geographic Information System Supervisor, Marketing Computer Hardware Specialist, Realty Management Consultant, Mapping and Surveying Staff, Academician or Researcher. And as of December 7, 2015, the two famous online job hiring websites namely Jobstreet.com and Careerjet.ph posted 20 jobs and 51 jobs respectively, which is available here in the Philippines. Geodetic Engineers were considered as one of the contributors for the Nation Building and Development as what Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz cited and released during the 12th National Statistics Month from the data of PRC disseminated through the Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics (BLES). There were 8906 Geodetic Engineers, 5781 Junior Geodetic Engineers, and 1775 Geodetic Engineer Aide. In total, Geodetic Engineering profession got 16462 numbers of professionals. Currently, the construction industry in the Philippines is experiencing explosive growth the need for more skilled Geodetic Engineers also increases.
The expertise and data’s of Geodetic Engineer as a surveyor can be used as legal bases for court hearings. In the Revised Regulation on Land Surveys Article 9, section 953, Geodetic shall be assigned by the regional trial court hearings for the adjudication of titles to land within cadastral projects. Also in court, the field note being made by a Geodetic Engineer like original notes that were taken while measurement can be used as evidences. One example is when Engr. Clarito Fajardo testified as witness in the court in G.R. No.157150 a case in the hearings for the adjudication of the land titles.
Thereupon, the practice of Geodetic Engineer is highly in demand most especially in overseas countries. The practice was enacted of R.A. No. 4374 as the Geodetic Engineering Law and was recently made constitutional by the Supreme Court last January 11, 2015.