MANILA, Philippines — Two lawmakers urged President Duterte to stop the continuing professional training program of the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), which they said has become a scam.

“Mr. President, please suspend this broken program indefinitely for the sake of Filipino professionals here and abroad, including tens of thousands of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs),” Reps. Neil Abayon of Aangat Tayo and Bernadette Herrera-Dy of Bagong Henerasyon said.

They said the requirement for professionals to undergo continuing education through seminars and training is laudable, but the PRC has failed to implement it correctly, taking into account the situation of professionals, particularly OFWs.

They said the PRC has been “deaf and blind” to the complaints of professionals, prompting them to address their concerns to the President.

Abayon said the continuing professional development program has become a big money-making racket.

“There are entities and people out there who charge tens of thousands of pesos for training. Given current difficult economic times, how can our professionals cope with that? There are even some event organizers who are of dubious character, yet they flourish,” he said.

He said he is almost certain that the scammers are in cahoots with PRC insiders.