City prosecutor finds cause to indict review center for estafa

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines - The office of the city prosecutor has found probable cause to indict the Northcap Review Center for charges of estafa. But Northcap Review Center is willing to settle with the complainants if only to stop legal action from ever starting. "We find probable cause for estafa for representing themselves as having the authority, power, influence and qualifications to process and cause the approval of the complainant's applications for licensure examinations at the Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC), and which representations was the very reason why the complainants had to part their monies to them. It turned out, however, that these were fraudulent when they found out that they were not included in the list of examinees to take the (midwifery) board exams on April 29 and 30," a portion of the May 16 resolution of Prosecutor Octavio Banta said. The filing of several complaints for estafa against Northcap stemmed from their collection of "processing fees" for midwifery examinations and nursing graduates at the PRC. A few days before the examination, those who took the review learned that they could not take the exams as their names were not included in the list of examinees. Northcap, meanwhile, is seeking for a settlement with the complainants. In a letter addressed to reviewees, parents and school authorities, Northcap officials Ludivina Ramos and John Edward Lazaro offered to refund their transportation, processing fee, lodging and review fees. The letter was dated June 3. For midwifery graduates who wish to pursue nursing, Northcap offered free review, Nclex, Ielts, CGFNS review, free use of laboratory and free review materials. "The Northcap Review Center sincerely apologizes for the inconvenience we have caused you, even if it was not deliberate on our part," officials of the review center said. For nonladderized midwifery course, Northcap offered to refund P31,300 each. For midwifery graduates who wish to pursue nursing will receive P115,000 while nursing graduates will get P84,000. – Sun.Star Baguio