Bello says he wants licensure exams studied, not scrapped

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III on Thursday clarified that he was merely proposing for the relevant regulators to study the possibility of abolishing licensure exams before a person can enter a particular profession.

The Labor chief made the clarification after he raised the idea of doing away with licensure exams for law and nursing professions. 

“My proposal is for the Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) and Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) to study it. I didn’t propose scrapping,” Bello said in an interview on ANC’s Headstart.

“I'm not proposing to scrap, I'm proposing especially to the, to Philippine Nurses Association and Board of Nursing to study and that applies to others, [such as] Board of Engineering na pagaralan nilang mabuti (study it carefully),” he said.

The Cabinet official reiterated that a student has already undergone rigorous scrutiny during his or her years of studying.

“I’d rather trust the product of an eight-year course than one day exam,” Bello said.

He also said that most nursing students are from low to middle income families and adding the cost of preparing for the board exam is another financial burden.

Suggestion draws reaction

Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo said he is against the abolition of the Bar exams as proposed by Secretary Bello.

“I don’t see the need to abolish the Bar exam. We must continue having the Bar exam,” Gesmundo said in an interview at an event in Manila.

“I respect the view of Secretary Bello but as far as the practice of law, I think we should maintain the Bar examinations so that we can sift those who are competent, considering the nature of the legal profession."

Also, Bello's  proposal did not sit well with the Philippine Nurses Association (PNA).

In an interview on Super Radyo dzBB, PNA national president Melbert Reyes said they and the Board of Nursing "immediately rejected" Bello’s proposal when the secretary raised it in a meeting on health worker deployment ban earlier this week.

“Hindi puwede ‘yan, buhay kasi ang hinahawakan namin eh [That can’t be because lives are in our hands]. We need to ensure that health professionals are competent enough,” he said. —LBG, GMA News