Leakage render beneficiaries unfit as nurses

	NORDIS WEEKLY July 2, 2006
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Leakage render beneficiaries unfit as nurses — examinees
BAGUIO CITY (June 30) — Nursing board examinees on June 11-12 here claimed that their complaint against the leakage filed with the Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC) last week is not merely confined on the scam. In a press conference the examinees said they are more concerned with board passers, who because of leakage, would be unfit and would pose danger to public health services when they finally work as full-fledged nurses. Supportive city-based professional nurses reveal that the leakage issue is already elevated to a higher level as the scam shows systemic problems in the profession and that the root causes of the scam should be traced as the Board of Nursing (BON), review centers and other government officials are possibly involved in the systemic commission of the leakage scam. Representatives of the examinees, deans of nursing, and officers of the Philippine Nursing Association (PNA) raised the question on the root causes of the scam in a recent press conference here as they revealed that 425 professional nurses in Baguio and Cordillera had supported, as interveners, the complaint filed to the PRC to create a body to investigate and punish those involved. The scam The June 11 and 12 board examination here was allegedly marred by fraud when the R.A. Gapuz Review center allegedly issued review notes containing considerable numbers of questions in sets III and V that came out in the actual exam. The Gapuz review handout allegedly contained circumstances and the names used in the examples the same as those contained in the actual exams. The intervenors claimed that 46,000 took the exam held nationwide while more or less 6,000 took the exam in Baguio. There were more or less 2000 reviewees of the Gapuz review center which were beneficiaries to the 2,800 photocopied 18-page handwritten review notes containing sets III and V of the board exams. As the examinees claimed that the leakage is unfair for those who labored for the exams, they filed the complaint last week while the intervention was filed on June 28 directly at the PRC National Office. Culture of cheating Both examinees and professional nurses under the PNA also condemned the culture of cheating in the board examinations. “The government should look into this cheating by acting on our complaint. If they will not act on this (cheating), how can the public trust the nurses who passed because of cheating? If these nurses managed to cheat, how much more to the people to whom they will be serving? If this is not checked now, the public will be at a losing end later,” said a leader of the examinees who filed the complaint. Dr. Mary Grace Lacanaria, dean of the Saint Louis University and head of the Cordillera Associations of Deans of the Philippines College of Nursing (ADPCN), added that they do not tolerate cheating. A national official of the PNA with a review center contacted Lacanaria to convince her to stop their move to investigate the leakage scam but she claimed they are determined to push for their fight. “It can be a David vs. Goliath, but we (as David) are being supported in the struggle as manifested by broad support on the intervention,” she claimed that they are being supported by the PNA chapters and ADPCN nationwide, the City Council who just passed a resolution in support for investigation of the scam, and the offices of senators Juan Flavier and Pia Cayetano. “The profession (nursing) deals with human lives and its capacity for it should not be put under question considering that the business of saving lives is one where mistakes and errors may not be tolerated. We firmly believe that only those who are capable are fit to be admitted to the nursing profession, and this capability is demonstrated when one passes the board exam fairly and squarely,” stated the motion to intervene by 425 professional nurses. Roots of the scam There were unverified reports that there were also examination anomalies in Metro Manila where at least 200 questions in the board exams were leaked. Prior to the exams, Nordis learned that 22 deans of nursing schools met with a PNA official who has a review center and talked about the leakage. Nobody from the deans of the said 22 schools of nursing was reportedly from Baguio but they claimed some came from northern Luzon. This PNA official was believed to have links with a member of the Board of Nursing and could have possibly accessed on the board exam questions. From the 420 nursing schools nationwide, the PNA officers of Baguio claimed that there are at least 25 nursing schools threatened to be closed due to low performance. One of the nursing schools, threatened for closure, in northern Luzon is allegedly owned by a DOH official who also allegedly benefited from the leakage. A professor, also a nurse and PNA- Baguio member, claimed that these schools who had invested millions will try everything to have access to a leakage to get higher passing percentage and evade closure. Meanwhile, the complainants condemned the backdoor channel talks initiated by PRC officials with BON to allegedly cover up the leakage issue and BON’s involvement. “Why not act on our complaint to create an impartial body to investigate those involved in the leakage?” the complainants said. BON is headed by Eufemia Octaviano with the following members: Remedios Fernandez, Gracia Dioniso, Letty Kuan, Estelita Galetira, and Virginia Madeja. # Arthur L. Allad-iw for NORDIS Post your comments, reactions to this article
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	NORDIS WEEKLY July 2, 2006
Home \| To bottom	Previous \| Next
Leakage render beneficiaries unfit as nurses — examinees
BAGUIO CITY (June 30) — Nursing board examinees on June 11-12 here claimed that their complaint against the leakage filed with the Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC) last week is not merely confined on the scam. In a press conference the examinees said they are more concerned with board passers, who because of leakage, would be unfit and would pose danger to public health services when they finally work as full-fledged nurses. Supportive city-based professional nurses reveal that the leakage issue is already elevated to a higher level as the scam shows systemic problems in the profession and that the root causes of the scam should be traced as the Board of Nursing (BON), review centers and other government officials are possibly involved in the systemic commission of the leakage scam. Representatives of the examinees, deans of nursing, and officers of the Philippine Nursing Association (PNA) raised the question on the root causes of the scam in a recent press conference here as they revealed that 425 professional nurses in Baguio and Cordillera had supported, as interveners, the complaint filed to the PRC to create a body to investigate and punish those involved. The scam The June 11 and 12 board examination here was allegedly marred by fraud when the R.A. Gapuz Review center allegedly issued review notes containing considerable numbers of questions in sets III and V that came out in the actual exam. The Gapuz review handout allegedly contained circumstances and the names used in the examples the same as those contained in the actual exams. The intervenors claimed that 46,000 took the exam held nationwide while more or less 6,000 took the exam in Baguio. There were more or less 2000 reviewees of the Gapuz review center which were beneficiaries to the 2,800 photocopied 18-page handwritten review notes containing sets III and V of the board exams. As the examinees claimed that the leakage is unfair for those who labored for the exams, they filed the complaint last week while the intervention was filed on June 28 directly at the PRC National Office. Culture of cheating Both examinees and professional nurses under the PNA also condemned the culture of cheating in the board examinations. “The government should look into this cheating by acting on our complaint. If they will not act on this (cheating), how can the public trust the nurses who passed because of cheating? If these nurses managed to cheat, how much more to the people to whom they will be serving? If this is not checked now, the public will be at a losing end later,” said a leader of the examinees who filed the complaint. Dr. Mary Grace Lacanaria, dean of the Saint Louis University and head of the Cordillera Associations of Deans of the Philippines College of Nursing (ADPCN), added that they do not tolerate cheating. A national official of the PNA with a review center contacted Lacanaria to convince her to stop their move to investigate the leakage scam but she claimed they are determined to push for their fight. “It can be a David vs. Goliath, but we (as David) are being supported in the struggle as manifested by broad support on the intervention,” she claimed that they are being supported by the PNA chapters and ADPCN nationwide, the City Council who just passed a resolution in support for investigation of the scam, and the offices of senators Juan Flavier and Pia Cayetano. “The profession (nursing) deals with human lives and its capacity for it should not be put under question considering that the business of saving lives is one where mistakes and errors may not be tolerated. We firmly believe that only those who are capable are fit to be admitted to the nursing profession, and this capability is demonstrated when one passes the board exam fairly and squarely,” stated the motion to intervene by 425 professional nurses. Roots of the scam There were unverified reports that there were also examination anomalies in Metro Manila where at least 200 questions in the board exams were leaked. Prior to the exams, Nordis learned that 22 deans of nursing schools met with a PNA official who has a review center and talked about the leakage. Nobody from the deans of the said 22 schools of nursing was reportedly from Baguio but they claimed some came from northern Luzon. This PNA official was believed to have links with a member of the Board of Nursing and could have possibly accessed on the board exam questions. From the 420 nursing schools nationwide, the PNA officers of Baguio claimed that there are at least 25 nursing schools threatened to be closed due to low performance. One of the nursing schools, threatened for closure, in northern Luzon is allegedly owned by a DOH official who also allegedly benefited from the leakage. A professor, also a nurse and PNA- Baguio member, claimed that these schools who had invested millions will try everything to have access to a leakage to get higher passing percentage and evade closure. Meanwhile, the complainants condemned the backdoor channel talks initiated by PRC officials with BON to allegedly cover up the leakage issue and BON’s involvement. “Why not act on our complaint to create an impartial body to investigate those involved in the leakage?” the complainants said. BON is headed by Eufemia Octaviano with the following members: Remedios Fernandez, Gracia Dioniso, Letty Kuan, Estelita Galetira, and Virginia Madeja. # Arthur L. Allad-iw for NORDIS Post your comments, reactions to this article
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