Malacañang stops PRC from swearing in new nurses

It’s another moment of anguish for passers of the June 2006 leakage-tainted nursing licensure examinations.

Excitement turned to despair when board passers who gathered for a supposed oathtaking at the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) central office in Manila were told that they couldn’t be sworn in as nurses after all.

PRC Chairwoman Leonor Rosero said they decided to call off the oathtaking because they wanted to consult first with the Office of the Solicitor General on how to deal with the Court of Appeals ruling allowing some board passers to take their oaths, except for 1,687 who were perceived to have benefited from the leakage of answers to exam questions. Three review centers — RA Gapuz, Inress and Pentagon — were believed to have orchestrated the leakage.

"We’ll be meeting with the SolGen (Solicitor General) first to discuss our next move,’’ Rosero told The STAR.

But Rosero apparently had no choice. Malacañang itself ordered that the oathtaking be put on hold until the CA ruling becomes final. Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita also said there will be no letup in the investigation of the scandal, which has tainted the image of Filipino nurses abroad.

He also stressed that the Palace position was not in defiance of the CA ruling which stated that its issuance was "without prejudice to the respondents and the executive branch revoking the licenses issued to examinees who may be eventually identified as among those who attended the final coaching sessions of Gapuz, Inress and Pentagon review centers.’’

A written instruction from Labor Secretary Arturo Brion to Rosero also explained PRC’s turnabout.

"We really felt bad. We are disappointed. We have been suffering unnecessarily for a long time now. Now, we have to wait again,’’ Grace Urquiaga, vice president of the Alliance of New Nurses, lamented.

Those who had been sworn earlier also showed up at the PRC office to get their licenses.

In a letter, Brion told Rosero that "any hasty and controversial move, such as the implementation of the Court of Appeals decision prior to its finality will only complicate matters and serve as stumbling block to an early resolution and closure.’’ He stressed the CA ruling is not yet final.

Brion maintained he had also written the CA "with a suggestion that a mediation and conciliation approach be taken to explore the possibility of achieving a solution acceptable to all, thus bringing a quicker closure to the problem.’’

But the PRC posted yesterday the list of the 1,687 examinees who will have to retake the examination.

They are the ones who initially flunked but when the PRC re-computed their grades in a bid to cleanse the test of leakage, they got higher scores and passed.

PRC commissioner Avelina dela Rea said that they decided to make the list public so they can prepare should the CA decision become final and executory.

A group from the University of Santo Tomas College of Nursing is asking CA to reconsider its Oct. 13 ruling. The petitioners led by Rene Tadle said the CA in its ruling failed to address the leakage issue.

"The leakage issue, however, was not addressed directly by the Court. Instead, it appears that the 20 leaked questions in test III and 90 leaked questions in test V were validated," Tadle said. "If the effect of the leakage remained in the Nursing licensure examination, the integrity of the examination remains in question," he said.

"Petitioners respectfully pray the Court, pending resolution of this motion for reconsideration, to issue a status quo. In the alternative, produce the list of examinees, including the 41.24 percent passers with their original scores for each of the subject," the group said in its motion for reconsideration. Lawyer Pia Cristina Bersamin represents the petitioners.

List of reviewees sought

At Malacañang, Ermita said Brion will ask the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to prepare a list of reviewees especially those present in the last coaching session at the three review centers.

He said DOLE and NBI are exploring suggestions that examinees who were found to have cheated should be criminally charged. On Rosero’s backtracking, Ermita said "she should always coordinate with the DOLE on things that she may wish to talk about.’’

"Please recall that the President (Arroyo’s) instruction was a selective retake and the NBI report was that it was possible to identify those who reviewed in these review centers and therefore DOLE now will get the list of those reviewees, match it with the list of those who passed and be able to determine who should be ordered to have a retake,’’ Ermita said.

Ermita admitted that it would not be easy to order the retake as this should be done through the legal system lest affected parties just go to the courts.

Ermita said the charges against the 17 officials of the three review centers would be pushed and the Board of Nursing members would be replaced.

Meanwhile, R. A. Gapuz Review Center (RAGRC) said yesterday the NBI probe will give the company an opportunity to clear its name.

"We regard this as an opportunity to prove that we have no involvement in the leakage issue. Our name has been dragged and maliciously accused so many times, the opportunity has now come to confront the accusations against us in the proper forum. We have always been confident that we will get through this clean," said a statement read by RAGRC president Dr. Eleonor Artemia Gapuz in a press conference.

"The RAGRC assures its reviewees and the public as well that review classes shall continue to be conducted with the same quality and excellence that has been the trademark of R.A. Gapuz Review Center,’’ the statement read.

For his part, Ray Gapuz said they welcome the move of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to regulate all nursing review centers in the country as part of the move to eliminate a leakage.

"That’s a welcome move as long as the review programs are carried out well and it will be able to bridge the gap. However, there is no need for us (to continue our review centers) if they are satisfied with what they (students) have gone through in the four years of their studies,’’ he said.

"During our time, we don’t even go through a review center. And schools sometimes offer review. But we sill managed to pass with flying colors. Review centers are there because of the demand. It would depend on the students if they need us or not,’’ said Ray Gapuz.

Reacting to the nursing exam scandal, Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Iniguez said the alleged cheating was more forgivable than the supposed fixing of the 2004 presidential election.

"The Church has a general moral principle on this – cheating is immoral. But there are different kinds and gravities of cheating, which have respective corresponding penalties. If the cheating was plain and there is contrition, we usually give absolution,’’ Iniguez said. — Wih reports from Aurea Calica, Sandy Araneta, Jose Rodel Clapano, Mayen Jaymalin, Paolo Romero