Licensed brokers may also attend any of the seminars scheduled on the following dates in 2011 — 29 and 30 in January and 5, 6, 12, 13, 19 and 20 in February — to comply with a Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC) requirement for license renewal.

The seminar, duly approved by the Professional Regulatory Board of Real Estate Service, will be held at the Sacred Heart Center on D. Jakosalem St. in Cebu City.

Those interested may call Richel B. Jumawan or President A. Jun Gultiano Jr. at (032) 254.5780, 412.5676 or mobile phone number 0919.6500753. They may also email nreacebu@yahoo.com for questions or clarifications.

The e-payment system will hopefully make it easier for you to pay your monthly contributions.

Some overseas Pinoys have also inquired if it is possible to apply for Pag-Ibig Overseas Program (POP) membership online. There’s currently no such thing.

However, overseas Pinoys may file their application with any of the following offices:

* Pag-Ibig Overseas Program (POP) Office
* POP Overseas Offices
* Accredited Overseas Marketing Representatives
* Metro Manila and Provincial Offices

There are POP overseas offices in North America, Europe, Middle East, and Asia Pacific.

Once you are a member, paying the monthly contributions is easy through the e-payment system. The system allows POP members to pay through any remittance center or overseas branch of the Philippine National Bank (PNB).

The e-payment system, called the Overseas Bills Payment System, was launched only last month. Pag-Ibig, in a news release, said the system utilizes PNB’s overseas banking network to optimize service to Filipinos overseas.

By we, I meant of course me and the 54 others in my review class who passed the licensure examination held in May this year.

Our oath taking was officiated by Zaide Bation, chief of the Trade and Regulatory Division of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in Cebu province. It was held at the Cebu Midtown Hotel in Cebu City.

Realtor Serafin Blanco, a former Mandaue City administrator, in his welcome remarks told of the “opportunities up for grabs” in the real estate profession, citing last year’s 26 percent growth in the real estate sector that roughly translated to exposure of 70 billion pesos.

“Play your role well…There are lots and lots of opportunities ahead of us,” he added. I think it safe to say that all of us who took our oaths last night couldn’t wait to test his words.

The next thing for us to do would be to apply for license with DTI’s Bureau of Trade Regulation and Consumer Protection, which oversees for now the real estate practice. Once we have our license, we can officially do all of the things that fall into the purview of a real estate broker’s job.

We also had our charging, done by Realtor A. Jun Gultiano Jr., and oath taking as members of the National Real Estate Association, Inc. (NREA) Cebu chapter and Philippine Association of Real Estate Brokers-Central Cebu Board of Realtors, Inc. (Pareb-CCBR). Gultiano is NREA Cebu chapter president and Pareb-CCBR founding chairman. These two groups conducted our review for the real estate licensure examination.

More photos of oath taking: