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Interpretation of Sec.

34 of RA 8495:

Section 34. Personnel Required in Mechanical Plant. – Every mechanical work project or plant
in operation shall have not less than the following complement of resident licensed professional
mechanical engineer, mechanical engineer or certified plant mechanic:

xx

xx

(c) Over 2000 kw: one (1) professional mechanical engineer: Provided, That every
mechanical work, project or plant in this category operating in more than one shift every twenty-
four (24) hours shall have, in addition to the minimum personnel herein required at least one (1)
professional mechanical engineer in-charge of each and every additional shift.

Jurisprudential Basis:

It is a rule in statutory construction that every part of the statute must be


interpreted with reference to the context, i.e., that every part of the statute must be
considered together with the other parts, and kept subservient to the general intent of
the whole enactment. Because the law must not be read in truncated parts, its provisions
must be read in relation to the whole law. The statute's clauses and phrases must not,
consequently, be taken as detached and isolated expressions, but the whole and
every part thereof must be considered in fixing the meaning of any of its parts in
order to produce a harmonious whole. Consistent with the fundamentals of statutory
construction, all the words in the statute must be taken into consideration in order to
ascertain its meaning. (Philippine International Trading Corp. v. Commission on Audit,
G.R. No. 183517, [June 22, 2010], 635 PHIL 448-464)

Applying the foregoing principle to Sec. 34 of RA 8495, (c) must be understood together with the
general requirement which requires a resident PME.

The general requirement specifies a resident PME and not on a retainer basis. When the law says
“in addition to the minimum personnel herein required” it also refers to the same general
requirement which specifies a “resident”.

Sec. 34 of RA 8495 therefore should be construed that a plant over 2,000 kW, shall have a
resident licensed professional mechanical engineer (PME). If the plant operates more than one
shift, in addition to (1) resident PME required by law, the plant is further required to have 1 PME
for each and every shift.

Applying such interpretation, the plant should have 4 resident PMEs: 1 PME as a general
requirement and additional 3 PMEs for the three shifts.

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