Nursing exams retake is final - Malacanang

By JOAN L. DAIRO, GMANews.TV The announced retake of the June 2006 nursing board licensure examination is final. "This is a final decision of President Arroyo in the national interest, and we ask for full cooperation from all the sectors concerned...even as justice takes its course in the relentless probe of the leakage, we appeal to all parties to put their recriminations aside and focus ion a credible and untainted re-take of the exams,"Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said Thursday. The statement was issued Thursday even as Bunye took a potshot at Professional Regulations Commission (PRC) head Leonor Tripon-Rosero who had earlier denounced Malacanang's decision for a re-take of the allegedly "leaked" examination and put the PRC under the supervision and control of the labor department. In the same statement, Bunye denied allegations that the President's decision was aimed at projecting her as the "Savior" of the nursing industry, insisting that "her only wish is to uphold the integrity of the Philippine nursing profession which is known to be one of the best in the world." "The nursing profession is not only a shining symbol of the Filipino culture of caring, but our source of pride and dignity in the international community,"he said. "Let us ensure that this unfortunate incident is never repeated. The fortunes of thousands of nurses are at stake and we must not let them down," he added. Even Labor Secretary Arturo Brion was unfazed by Rosero's position that the PRC would only prepare for a re-take of the controversial nursing examination if the Court of Appeals (CA) orders it to do so. Brion, a former CA associate justice, said pending cases filed by various parties with the appellate court, along with proposed mechanisms for the re-take, are among the issues he would take up with Rosero during their private meeting, originally scheduled Thursday afternoon. "I'll take the entire forced day-off due to typhoon 'Milenyo' to see how the re-take will affect cases lodged before the courts. We'll see what the cases say. This is something I expect to study the whole day," he said. Stop airing dirty linen in public He hinted that he might order the PRC and all concerned parties to refrain from publicly commenting on issues related to the scandal. "It will not be productive if all officials concerned were to air their opinions before the media, before actually administering the re-examinations. We should talk among ourselves first. If we discuss this before the media, I don't think anything productive will come out of it," Brion said. Also, Brion said his priority now - aside from the reexamination - is to restore the integrity of the nursing exams and the PRC. He pointed out that the PRC administers 42 examinations a year, and these may be in doubt unless the nursing board exam issue is resolved soonest. "Immediately what is before us is the nursing licensure exam. But beyond the nursing exam, we need to maintain the integrity of the professional licensure exams," he said. Punish masterminds of leakage Sen. Richard Gordon lauded the President's decision and said: "I have long maintained that the only way to put closure to this matter is, at the very least, by way of requiring a re-take of Tests 3 and 5 of the board exams for everyone shown to have received the leaked exam questions." Gordon said the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) should now make sure that "those behind the leakage are caught and duly punished." Commission on Overseas Filipinos chairman Dante Ang said Malacañang's order has paved the way for the resumption of negotiations to hold US nursing exams in the Philippines. "If we retake Tests 3 and 5 I believe we will regain the trust of our friends in the US and of local hospitals that up to now refuse to take in those who passed the June 2006 exams)," Ang said. -GMANews.TV