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Saturday, August 19, 2006

School dean goes to court to stop nurses from taking oath

School dean goes to court
to stop nurses from taking oath

By Francis Earl A. Cueto, Reporter

A nursing-school dean on Thursday asked the Court of Appeals to stop nursing students who passed the leakage-tainted licensure exams from taking their oath this month.

Dean Marco Antonio Sto. Tomas, vice-president of the Association of Deans of the Philippine Colleges of Nursing, petitioned the court for a temporary restraining order a day after an examinee described at a Senate inquiry how he and other reviewers were shown test questions in advance by the president of the Philippine Nurses Association.

Sto. Tomas wanted the August 22 oathtaking of successful examinees before regional officers of the Professional Regulation Commission stopped because it would be shrouded in doubts.

He said it was “incomprehensible” that the PRC released the results of the exams and allowed a voluntary retake despite allegations of a leak.

“What are they trying to protect? The biggest question now is: who was paid the P7 million?” Sto. Tomas said, referring to the money that two examiners allegedly received in exchange for the leak.

At Wednesday’s Senate hearing, Eufemia Octaviano, the PRC’s Board of Nursing chairman, testified that she and colleague Anesia Dionisio spent for their trip to Switzerland, which was allegedly part of the package.

Sto. Tomas insisted on a retake for all examinees because “there’s no other way to redeem the credibility” of the nursing board exam given in June.

Rene Tadle of the task force on leakage based at the University of Santo Tomas supports Sto. Tomas’ position.

He said that despite UST’s 83-percent passing rate in that board exam, allowing all the successful examinees to get their licenses to practice with this still unresolved leak scandal “posed a danger to public health and safety as their competencies were not properly measured.”

“This is very, very painful for us, but we’re telling our students that this is beyond the individual now, this involves the integrity of the exams themselves,” Tadle said.

He appealed to the PRC to listen to their petitions to have the oath-taking stopped.

“Please listen to us. [The scandal] is not our fault. It is not the fault of the examinees. But nothing but a retake can resolve the issue. What will happen if they are later proven wrong? Will they take back the licenses they issued? Kawawa naman ang mga bata [Pity the examinees],” Tadle said.

Sto. Tomas also confirmed that George Cordero, president of the Philippine Nurses Association, had resigned after he was implicated at the hearing. An examinee, Dennis Bautista, said that the leak originated from Cordero himself.

Sto. Tomas said Marilyn Yap, PNA vice-president for administration, would succeed Cordero.

He said, however, that other PNA officials from the regions were calling for the resignation of all five members of the PNA executive committee.

He said Victoria Ramon, PNA vice-president for programs, should also resign after Bautista told the hearing that Ramon was in the final coaching session at SM Manila, where the leaked questions were given to the students.

Ramon admitted that she was there but only because her daughter was an examinee.

On Thursday Richard Gordon called for the overhauling of the system in the nursing profession.

“Why can an owner of a nursing school also own a review center and at the same time be appointed as president of the Philippine Nurses Association?” Gordon asked, alluding to Cordero, who also owns the Philippine College of Health Sciences (PCHS) and INRESS Review Center.

“The situation and the names of persons given in the exam were exactly the same as the questions flashed on the screen during our final coaching,” Bautista told the Senate Committee on Civil Service and Government Reorganization, headed by Sen. Rodolfo Biazon.

Pamela Ortega, also a PCHS student, confessed to Dr. Letty Kuan, a member of the Board of Nursing, that she overheard Cordero saying during the final coaching at SM Cinema in Manila that he “did not pay P7 million for nothing” in relation to the leakage.

Cordero has accused Ortega of providing the R.A. Gapuz Review Center with copies of the handwritten leakage.

The PRC has recommended administrative charges against Board of Nursing members Anesia Dioniso and Virginia Madeja for neglect of duty.

The PRC also found that Cordero was involved in the leakage.

Gordon will file a bill regulating the operation of review centers not under the Department of Trade and Industry but probably by the Commission on Higher Education.

“The nursing schools should also be the ones to conduct the review for their graduates so that they would no longer need to enroll in review centers that charge them huge sums of money,” he said.

Gordon supports the retaking of the examinations to safeguard the “credibility and integrity” of Filipino nurses and to punish those responsible for the leakage of the test questions.

FROM: The Manila Times
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2006/aug/18/yehey/top_stories/20060818top2.html

Posted by marisse at 9:55 PM | | Comments

Only the President can fire me, says PRC chief

Only the President can fire me, says PRC chief


By Tina Santos
Inquirer
Last updated 08:06pm (Mla time) 08/19/2006


"ONLY the President could terminate me." Thus declared Professional Regulation Commission chairperson Leonor Tripon-Rosero Saturday.

She was reacting to Senator Richard Gordon, who called for her resignation for giving clearance for the oath-taking of nurses who passed the scandal-ridden nursing licensure examination last month.

"I have a term of office, I cannot resign. Only the Office of the President could terminate me," she told the Inquirer in a phone interview.

Gordon said Rosero should not have given the go-signal for the examinees to take their oaths because the Senate and the National Bureau of Investigation had yet to wrap up their investigation into the alleged leakage of test questions that attended the board exams.

"But that's the normal procedure -- right after we release the results, oath-taking follows," Rosero said. "If the majority who took the exam did not cheat, why will we punish them? They worked hard for it. It would be unfair if we punish all of them for the mistake of only a few."

Rosero said that PRC can still revoke the licenses of those who will be proven to have cheated.

She said the commission has been getting letters from parents asking it to push through with the oath-taking.

"For us, that's the proper thing to do, but then the Court of Appeals has already issued a TRO, so we have to respect that. No oath-taking for now until the TRO is settled," she said, but added that the commission had yet to receive its copy of the court’s resolution.

More than 2,000 examinees had taken their oaths by the time the court issued its hold order Friday, she said.

FROM : http://newsinfo.inq7.net/breakingnews/nation/view_article.php?article_id=16156

Posted by Budek at 9:05 PM | | Comments

Court of Appeals asked to nullify earlier oath-takings

Court of Appeals asked to nullify earlier oath-takings


By Veronica Uy
INQ7.net
Last updated 02:54pm (Mla time) 08/19/2006


SOON after it stopped the oath-taking of passers in the June 2006 nursing licensure examinations, the Court of Appeals was asked to nullify earlier oath-takings, INQ7.net learned Saturday.

In a four-page supplemental petition for prohibition, Rene Tadle, Earl Francis Sumile, and Michael Angelo Brant of the Task Force Leakage asked the appellate court to include “a further order directing the Professional Regulation Commission to refrain from implementing its Memorandum Order No. 2006-02 to those who passed the June 11 and 12, 2006 nursing licensure exam and to invalidate all oath-takings done under it to restore the status quo ante.”

The petitioners noted that the PRC tried “to defeat the rule of law and render moot and academic” their granted petition for a temporary restraining order on oath taking.

“[The order] is obviously intended to slam the door on any judicial inquiry into the actuations of the PRC. The court is amply empowered to crash through such lawless barrier in order to maintain the rule of law,” the petition reads.

They said that right after the PRC received a copy of their Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) petition, the PRC issued Memo 2006-06 allowing board passers to take their oaths as registered nurses in the regions starting August 17.

More than 2,000 board passers managed to take their oaths in Cebu and Bacolod cities on Thursday and Friday, just before the appellate court issued the TRO.

The petitioners filed their petition the day before on August 16.

In the past, the petitioners said “the PRC has always administered mass oath-taking for all successful examinees.”

Together with various nursing groups, the Task Force Leakage had asked the PRC to stop the announcement of the results of the exam and later the oath-taking until the investigations are finished and the scandal over the leaks are resolved.

FROM: INQ7.net
http://newsinfo.inq7.net/breakingnews/nation/view_article.php?article_id=16139

Posted by marisse at 5:14 PM | | Comments

Position Essay on the TRO issued against the PNLE

Position Essay on the TRO issued against the PNLE
Sent via email

For the longest time since the results of the June 2006 Philippine Nursing Licensure Examinations were released, I did not see any of the passers from Mindanao talking to the media about their sentiments and/or expressing concern on the issues that affect them also. So I am breaking my silence.

Foremost, I challenge the agencies and organizations calling for the retake of the exam, at least on the two tests identified to have been leaked, to prove beyond reasonable doubt that those who took it, at least here in Davao City, participated in the said massive cheating. If they can not, then I guess they better stop saying the things they are saying as they too put us in a bad light.

The issue here is not about having a retake. Rather, the bigger issue is punishing those who cheated. The PRC, the Executive Office tasked to conduct the board exams, ruled that should the investigation proves and identifies those who cheated and passed, their licenses will be revoked. Isn’t that fair enough? The PRC just did the right thing to stand firm on their decision, yet also try to accommodate reasonable demands. They eventually said that the retake is voluntary. Still, fair enough. The PRC should not be intimidated by other institutions as this can become a precedent to future circumstances like this. Just because the PRC does not yield to what other organizations want that it means the PRC is being careless in its decision. Where did these people get their licenses? Didn’t they obtain it from the PRC as well? The right thing to do is to put these issues to rest and wait for the results of the investigation to come out. As said before, it is better to assume that the exams were reasonably proper. Even the law has this in effect: “One is innocent until proven otherwise”

To have everybody retake the exam is criminal for those who passed it fair and square. They argue, “the exams are no longer valid.” Yes, the exams are invalid to those who HAD the leakage. But the exams remain valid for those who DID NOT have the leakage.

They say the scores are manipulated. I say, isn’t the PRC the authority on this subject matter. The PRC did what they had to do to nullify the effects of the leakage and all passers suffered the results by having extremely low board ratings. The complaints lodged by other passers do not embody the overall sentiment of the thousands more of board passers.

They say the law (RA 9173) was violated because the scores are manipulated, then clearly, the law needs to be amended to adapt to situations like this. RA 9173 did not tackle the issue of should a leakage occur in the exam, that everybody should retake that also. Calling for a retake therefore is also against the provisions of RA 9173. So should we still use RA 9173 the basis of our arguments?

Now how did the Board of Examiners, elected to office? Who recommends? Who nominates? Why don’t we look at them for a change? The leak came allegedly from the examiners anyway. How were they screened? Let’s trace the root of all this and probably, let’s start the change from there.

The problem is the majority faces the consequences of the actions done by the minority. And that is simply unfair. Even a gradeschool pupil will say that it is unfair.

They also say that those who passed it may risk the lives of their future patients. That is simply very hasty and harsh. There are a lot more licensed professionals, those who passed leakage-less exams, who face malpractice suits due to incompetence. And for the information of the people, the Philippine Nursing Licensure Exam is an exam that I think, can never quantify an examinee’s competence.

This question was asked in the last board exam:

1. What is the most common problem faced by a nurse working abroad?

a. Adjustment
b. Weather
c. Language
d. Nutrition

Or this:

1. Many nurses are now leaving the country to work abroad. Aside from money, what would be the other primary reason of nurses leaving abroad?

a. Educational Opportunity for their Children
b. Immigrant Visa
c. Citizenship
d. Health Care Benefits

In the 2005 Licensure exam this question was said to had been asked:
1. A nurse is on a vehicle, sees a mental patient about to jump from a bridge. What should the nurse do?

a. Pray
b. Call for help
c. Step down from the vehicle


I do not know what to answer as clearly, the questions ask for one’s opinion. Now, if those calling for a retake can tell me if the questions I stated above can measure competence in Nursing, then I will gladly yield to what they want. It may appear easy, but the mere fact that you can not find that in books make the whole thing different.

Some questions are taken out from the speeches made by the examiners that are available only to some groups. Did the Mindanao students cried unfair about this? We did not. Some of the review materials were allegedly made exclusive to UP Manila students. Did they sell copies of the Ethics Book by Sr. Letty Kuan here in Davao City or at least put it in National Bookstore for the access of everybody. I believe not.

But did we cry foul about it?

The hospitals are said not to hire those from my batch. Why? I think hospitals train nurses, before they finally hire them. Isn’t the training program sufficient evaluative tool that will objectively assess our competence? If this is so, then I would not wonder why no Filipino Nurse will be left working in Philippine Hospitals.

They said the international community doubts the competence of those who passed the controversial exam. Correct me then if I am wrong, aren’t the foreign exams sufficient to assess our competence in nursing? The PNLE is not the sole measure of one’s competence. Having graduated the BSN program accredited by CHED and other accrediting agencies render us competent as future nurses. A single exam can never measure one’s competence since competence is learned. Competence is not acquired by passing a single exam.

Those calling for a retake do not understand what they are asking those who passed the June PNLE. This is not about making the exam free for everybody. Will they pay our review fees amounting to tens of thousands of pesos? Will they give us fare money and allowance to review and take the exam again in a PRC Regional Testing Center? Will they pay us with the time robbed from us? What about our mental anguish, I believe that costs more. Will they pay our emotional and mental anguish? But all these said, nobody will ever agree to paying us.

And still they make a statement that we, the passers, should make the ultimate sacrifice and just retake the test. Why us? Why don’t they make the sacrifice themselves. Pin down the perpetrators and punish them 42,000 times as they ruined our dreams, tainted our names with this controversy and held us futile for months now.

At the end of all these, I believe that those who took the June PNLE are the victims of this controversy and therefore should not be continually asked to retake the exam. The PRC said the exam is valid. The PRC said it already nullified the effect of the leakage. What then is the problem still?

Why can’t we just let the PRC do its job. Why can’t we just review how the Board of Examiners are nominated. Why can’t we just wait for the investigation of the NBI. Why can’t we stop dragging everybody in the mess created and participated by a few? Why can’t we just move on?

Ethics taught us that JUSTICE is about fairness and equality. This is not JUSTICE at all.

Richard Erick Caballero
Batch 2006
PNLE June 2006 Passer
Former Editor in Chief of the Clarion
Official Publication of Davao Doctors College
Davao Doctors College, Inc.
General Malvar St., Davao City

Posted by Budek at 3:05 PM | | Comments

OUR LEADERS HAVE FAILED US

OUR LEADERS HAVE FAILED US
Sent via email

The June 2006 Philippine Nursing Board Examinees deserve nothing less than a public apology from the BOARD OF NURSING (bon), THE ASSOCIATION OF DEANS IN PHILIPPINE COLLEGES OF NURSING (adpcn) AND PHILIPPINE NURSES ASSOCIATION (pna) for their undeserved suffering, being discriminated and labeled as cheats and/OR incompetents in print and on national television, when none of the facts point to such a broad conclusion.

It has been found out that the people responsible for the early release of board test questions are members of the BON, former ADPCN members and members in good standing of the PNA.

The June 2006 Nursing Board Examinees should not be scapegoats, for the lapse in judgment or morality, of those who were trusted with positions to uphold and protect the nursing profession.

The board passers should not be sacrificial lambs in a witch hunt THAT DEMANDS THEM TO SURRENDER NOTHING LESS THAN THEir dignity and self respect, BY RETAKING THE BOARD EXAMS.

Those who failed, and the future examinees, deserve to have the peace of mind that they have been given and will be given a fair chance in the Nursing Licensure Exams to come.

On what moral high ground does the BON, ADPCN and PNA stand on, to think that they have the right to demand (THEY NEVER ASKED NICELY NOR DID THEY EVER GIVE OPTIONS) from the June 2006 Board Examinees a heroic demonstration of the values of Honesty, Justice and Integrity?... Values they should have guaranteed present in ALL Nursing board exams. Values they have shown to be wanting in their ranks (AS EVIDENCED BY THE CULPRITS), but not among the examinees (AS EVIDENCED BY THE COMPLAINANTS). They have, instead, burdened all FILIPINO nurses to constantly defend the profession they, as nursing leaders, were trusted never to compromise.

The June 2006 board passers, other examinees and other nurses deserve an apology for the taRNISHED legacy their senior colleagues in the BON have left for them in the Nursing Profession. These nursing leaders have illustrated to the world that neither a license, a row of titles nor years of experience guarantees a good Filipino nurse… AND THEY HAVE MADE IT VERY DIFFICULT FOR OTHER FILIPINO NURSES TO REFUTE THIS.

MOST OF ALL, THE EXAMINEES DESERVE AN APOLOGY FOR THE DETERMINED EFFORTS OF THE BON, ADPCN, AND PNA TO UNDERMINE THE RIGHTS OF THE INNOCENT AND, IN THE PROCESS, HIDE THEIR LACK OF HONESTY, THEIR LACK OF A SENSE OF JUSTICE AND THEIR LACK OF INTEGRITY AS PHILIPPINE NURSING LEADERS.

BY: ICING OF DAVAO CITY

Posted by Budek at 3:01 PM | | Comments

DOJ exec advises nursing board passers to insist innocence

DEPARTMENT of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Raul Gonzalez Sr. urged the nursing board passers to insist their innocence on the exam leakage found in June's licensure exam.

In a broadcast of Aksyon Radyo where Gonzalez was interviewed, he pointed out that foiling of oath taking ceremonies for nurses meant the generalization of cheating which is unfair to those who pass the exams in good faith.

The same day when the oath taking ceremony of more or less a thousand of nurses from colleges in the Province yesterday at Rose Memorial at Central Philippine University, the Temporary Restraining Order from the Court of Appeals came just two hours earlier.

Gonzalez viewed that the oath taking ceremony would be valid depending on the judicial knowledge of the organizers and new nurse.

Contempt of court then, could be filed against the new nurses as well as to those who organized and held the event if the court finds that they has had secured a copy of the decision, which is the main question of the validity of the ceremony.

The court of office could look into the 'judicial cognizance' .

The DOJ Secretary was convinced that only minority of the board passers have cheated./LABB

(August 19, 2006 issue)
FROM : http://www.sunstar.com.ph

Posted by Budek at 2:58 PM | | Comments

Unfair to board examinees who did not cheat

Unfair to board examinees who did not cheat

Inquirer
Last updated 00:42am (Mla time) 08/19/2006

Published on Page A12 of the August 19, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

HOW to properly handle the controversy over the leakage in the nursing licensure exams held last June is a challenge to authorities.

As reported by the media, the alleged sources and beneficiaries of the leakage have been identified: two members of the Board of Nursing, a popular review center and its reviewees. The successful examinees from the review center can be easily identified through pertinent documents. These examinees should not be allowed to join the nursing profession as if nothing happened. If they would just be asked to retake the exams, the government’s entire licensure examination system will lose its credibility in the eyes of the international community. The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) should not allow this to happen.

To protect the integrity of government licensure examinations, the PRC should investigate and punish them, together with the nursing board and the concerned review center, if found guilty. This will send the correct signal that we are not condoning irregularities in our licensure examinations.
On the other hand, it would not be fair to deprive the thousands of other successful examinees who did not cheat of their hard-earned right to become full-fledged nurses. To disallow them from taking their oath on the mere speculation that they also cheated would be most unjust.

MARCELO L. TECSON (via e-mail)

Posted by brewed at 10:24 AM | | Comments

Court restraining order comes too late as some nurses take their oath

Court restraining order comes too late as some nurses take their oath


The Court of Appeals on Friday stopped the oath-taking of the new nurses who took their licensure exams on June 12.

The temporary restraining order, however, came too late to stop about 1,000 nurses in Cebu City from taking their oath.

In a decision written by Associate Justice Vicente Veloso, the court also ordered the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) not to enforce Board Resolution 31, which the PRC issued to invalidate two portions of the exams that were allegedly leaked.

“The respondents and all those acting in their behalf are directed to cease and desist from enforcing the assailed Board Resolution 31 dated July 17 and from proceeding with the oath-taking allegedly scheduled on August 22,” the court said.

It said it was still studying a petition to invalidate the results of the June 12 nursing licensure exams. The court set a hearing for preliminary injunction on September 14 and gave the PRC and the Board of Nursing 10 days to comment.

Members of the UST College of Nursing Faculty Association, the League of Concerned Nurses and the Binuklod na Samahan ng Student Nurses petitioned for the TRO.

The PRC on Thursday issued a memorandum allowing the oath-taking of new nurses, some of whom might have benefited from the leakage. Several hundred new nurses took their oaths in Metro Manila and Cebu before the court issued the TRO.

Leonor Tripon-Rosero, PRC chairman, said the commission has yet to receive a copy of the court order.

She defended the PRC decision to allow the oath-taking, adding that a majority of deans of nursing colleges nationwide supported the decision. “The sentiments of the deans are no retake and to proceed with the oath-taking,” Rosero told the ABS-CBN News Channel.

She added that the integrity of the licensure exams remained intact after the PRC invalidated two portions of the exams that were allegedly leaked.

PRC Commissioner Avelina de la Rea told DZMM that the commission is stopping all oath-taking ceremonies in the country in compliance with the court order. She added, however, that the PRC would process the licenses of nurses who took their oaths before the TRO was issued.

Dean Marco Antonio Sto. Tomas, vice-president of the Association of Deans of Philippine Colleges of Nursing, said the PRC’s decision to allow the oath-taking could affect the new nurses.

Sto. Tomas said the new nurses could have their licenses revoked if the National Bureau of Investigation proves that they benefited from the leakage.

He said the association is pushing for a retake of Tests 3 and 5 of the licensure exams to ensure the competency of the new nurses.

He said the group is also set to petition President Arroyo to accept the resignations of nursing board members linked to the scandal. He added that members of the Board of Nursing should “not be engaged in review activities or serving as deans or faculty in any college of nursing” to prevent conflict of interest.

A report issued by a PRC fact-finding probe revealed that George Cordero, president of the Philippine Nurses’ Association, paid P7 million to get the leakage.

The report said the leaked questions came from the manuscripts of nursing board members Anesia Dionisio and Virginia Madeja. The leaked questions and answers were later shown for a fee to 1,000 students in a Manila cinema three days before the board exam.

Dionisio and Madeja offered their resignations, which were not accepted until the NBI finishes its probe. Other members of the board also offered to resign.

Cordero has resigned as PNA president. He was replaced by PNA vice-president for finance Dr. Marylin Yap.

In Cebu 1,374 new nurses took their oaths, apparently unaware that the TRO had been issued. There were also oath-taking ceremonies in Iloilo and Bacolod cities.

DZMM correspondent Jun Reyes said Dan Malayang, director of the Professional Regulation Commission for Western Visayas, said some of the board passers came from Manila and Mindanao.

He added that Rosero approved the oath-taking.

The PRC issued Thursday morning Memorandum Order 2006-02 ordering the oath-taking of new nurses, some of whom might have benefited from the test leakage.

“Please be informed that the conduct of oath-taking for those who have passed the June 2006 Nursing Board Examination starts today, August 17, 2006, at your respective regions,” the memorandum signed by Rosero said.

An ABS-CBN Bandila report said board passers in Manila had already attended several oath-taking ceremonies after the PRC memo was issued.

Sen. Richard Gordon, chairman of the Senate Committee on Education leading the probe, scored the PRC for issuing the order.

“The PRC is violating the integrity and standard of the licensure exams by fast-tracking [the oath-taking],” he said.

The NBI, meanwhile, is set to include in its probe 22 deans of nursing colleges who allegedly participated in the review and coaching session held on June 8 and 9 at a cinema in Manila.

Testimonies from at least two examinees are also being considered as basis for the NBI probe.

Other witnesses said they are willing to come forward and provide information.

“They want to come forward but are afraid. In due time, they will provide information,” said Carmelita Divinagracia, a member of the association of deans of Philippine Colleges of Nursing.

FROM: http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2006/aug/19/yehey/top_stories/20060819top2.html

Posted by Thor at 10:10 AM | | Comments

Appellate court stops oath taking of new nurses

Appellate court stops oath taking of new nurses

MANILA -- The Court of Appeals (CA) on Friday issued a 60-day temporary restraining order (TRO) against the oath taking of students who passed the recent nursing licensure examination and enjoined officials of the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) and the Board of Nursing (BON) from implementing assailed Resolution 31.

In a resolution penned by Associate Justice Vicente Veloso, the CA Special Third Division ordered the PRC and the BON to file their comment on the petition within 10 days, without necessarily giving due course to the petition.

The CA's order came following reports that the PRC has allowed the oath taking of new nurses in several provinces despite the pending investigation on the alleged leakage of test questions during the June 11 and 26 exams.

The board, upon the supervision of the PRC, has earlier set the schedule for the oath taking on August 22.

"To preserve the rights of the petitioners pending disposition of the subject petition and so as not to render any judgment hereon moot and academic, the TRO prayed for is granted," the CA ruled.

The appellate court also set a hearing for preliminary injunction on September 14 at 2 p.m. at the Paras Hall of the CA.

For his part, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez Sr. said suspending the oath taking would be unfair for the students who passed the exam, adding that it was well within the authority of the PRC to set the date for such activity.

"That's unfair for the majority of those who took the test, who did not cheat. Why are you punishing them? They worked for it. I don't think the integrity of the exam board should be used to punish those students who passed the exam," he said.

Gonzalez further said that the leakage of information on the tests should not be taken for cheating. "You can't blame (the nursing students) if they were tipped off. It would be wrong if you cheat but if you get information, you're lucky. Cheats are those who leaked the information," he said.

The filing of the petition for injunction on Thursday was led by the University of Santo Tomas (UST) school of nursing, which asked for the suspension of the August 22 oath taking of new nurses, pending the result of an investigation regarding the leakage.

Petitioner Rene Luis Tadle, president of the faculty of the UST College of Nursing, claimed that Resolution 31 invalidated portions of the nursing examinations taken by some 42,600 students due to leakage.

Other petitioners include Earl Francis Sumile, president of the league of concerned nurses, and Michael Angelo Brant, president of the Binuklod na Samahan ng mga Student Nurses (BSSN). Of the students who took the nursing exam, only 17,821 passed the tests.

The exams covered five testing areas: (Test-I) Fundamentals of Nursing Practice; (Test-II) Community Health/Maternal and Child Nursing; (Test-III) Medical/Surgical Nursing; (Test-IV) Medical/Surgical Nursing; and (Test-V) Neuro-Psychiatric Nursing.

However, leakages in Tests III and V plagued the examinations as many review centers acquired copies of questions asked in the tests a few days before the scheduled examination and shared these with their students.

To remedy the anomaly brought about by the leakage, the PRC approved a scheme for using the grades from the other portions of the examinations in computing the grades from the invalidated portions.

Petitioners said that rather than order the retaking of examinations in the affected tests, as was its duty under existing laws and rules, the board, acting without or in excess of jurisdiction or with grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack of jurisdiction, invalidated the 20 items of Test III and merely ordered the scores in Test V computed again, by imputing to it the average scores from Tests I-IV.

These acts, petitioners said, as well as the scheduling of the oath-taking despite the pending investigation on the leakage, constituted grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack of jurisdiction on the part of respondents.

They further said the refusal of respondents to set aside the scheme and the assailed BON resolution puts at risk public health and safety, and adversely affects the chances of Filipino nurses of obtaining overseas work.

"The integrity of the country's nursing exams need be ensured to maintain the good reputation of its nurses who seek overseas work to improve the lot of their families and countries," they told the CA.

They noted that because of the examination brouhaha, governments abroad are looking at how the respondents are dealing with the anomaly, but they have continued to ignore their duties under the law.

The facts of the case showed that on June 11-12, the respondents gave licensure examinations for the nursing profession in Manila, Baguio, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Davao, Iloilo, Legaspi, Lucena, Tacloban, Tuguegarao and Zamboanga.

At Malacañang, Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said the PRC remains on top of the situation and they prefer to leave the matter to the commission. "The PRC has the situation under control so there is not reason for the Palace to intervene," he said.

The PRC administered the oath to the June 11 and June 12 licensure exams passers whom officials had described as competent nurses.

PRC Commissioner Avelina de la Rea said they acknowledged the TRO sought before the CA by some of groups of nursing graduates and teachers. She said the decision to seek a TRO was the decision of just one group.

She said they pushed through with the oath taking because the investigations of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) would take time, adding that the PRC could revoke the licenses of nurses if the NBI investigation would prove that they have benefited from the leakage. (ECV/JMR/Sunnex)


(August 19, 2006 issue)

FROM: http://sunstar.com.ph/static/net/2006/08/19/appellate.court.stops.oath.taking.of.new.nurses.html



Posted by Thor at 10:02 AM | | Comments

Malacañang distances itself from nursing exam leakage issue

Malacañang distances itself from nursing exam leakage issue


By GENALYN D. KABILING


Malacañang yesterday said it would not a lift a finger in the raging scandal triggered by an alleged leak in the June 2006 nursing licensure examination for now.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said the Professional Regulation Commission has the situation "under control" despite complaints the state-run agency allegedly mismanaged the last licensure exams.

"Our assessment is that the situation is under control. We don’t see any reason as of this time for the Palace to intervene," Bunye said in a news conference in the Palace.

A group of nursing school deans has asked President Arroyo to accept the resignation of the seven-member Board of Nursing of the PRC and appoint a temporary caretaker board until the December exams may be prepared.

The PRC has pushed through with the oath-taking of new nurses despite an ongoing probe by the National Bureau of Investigation on the alleged test leak. The agency also threatened to revoke the licenses of nurses found guilty of benefiting from the leakage based on the results of the NBI investigation.

The controversy stemmed from the complaint of an examinee who testified before a Senate inquiry that she saw other examinees from R.A. Gapuz Review Center reading photocopies which she later found out the leaked questions from the review center.

Rachel Cyndi-Erfe has since been joined in her complaint by 91 other examinees and 425 intervenors. The controversy triggered a debate whether all the 42,000 examinees retake the licensure test to maintain its integrity and standard.

As this developed, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez defended yesterday this year’s nursing examinees from the sanction imposed by the PRC, which invalidated portions of the over-all nursing test.

He said it is most unfair to impose such sanction considering that it affects even the innocent examinees.

"That’s unfair for the majority of those who took the test, who did not cheat. Why are you punishing them? They worked for it. I don’t think the integrity of the exam board should be used to punish those students who passed the exam," he said.

Gonzalez said the leakage of information on the tests should not be taken as cheating committed by the examinees. (with a report by Gabriel Mabutas)

FROM: http://www.mb.com.ph/MAIN2006081972128.html

Posted by Thor at 9:44 AM | | Comments

CA stops oath-taking of 14,000 nurses

CA stops oath-taking of 14,000 nurses

By REY G. PANALIGAN

The Court of Appeals (CA) stopped yesterday the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) and the Board of Nursing (BoN) from proceeding with the scheduled oath-taking of more than 14,000 new nurses on Tuesday, Aug. 22, pending a resolution of the case filed against the two agencies.


In a temporary restraining order (TRO) contained in a resolution written by Associate Justice Vicente SE Veloso, the CA ordered a public hearing on Sept. 14 on the petition filed by the College of Nursing Faculty Association of the University of Santo Tomas (CNFA-UST), the League of Concerned Nurses, and Binuklod na Samahan ng mga Student Nurse.

Meanwhile, the PRC presided over the oath-taking of 1,374 new nurses in Cebu City yesterday, even as other nursing examination passers took their oaths in Metro Manila, Bacolod, and Iloilo cities.

A memorandum signed by PRC Chairwoman Leonor Tripon-Rosero said: "Please be informed that the conduct of oathtaking for those who have passed the June 2006 Nursing Board Examination starts today, Aug. 17, 2006, at your respective regions."

In the meantime, the PRC and the BoN were directed to comment on the petition in 10 days. Associate Justices Conrado Vasquez Jr. and Rebecca Salvador de Guia concurred in the resolution.

The CA stopped the PRC and the BoN from enforcing Board Resolution No. 31 which states that "20 test items out of 100 in Test III were very similar in content or substance with the leaked materials, and 90 items out of 100 in Test V were identical in substance, forms, situations and choices with the leaked materials."

"To preserve the rights of the petitioners pending disposition of the subject petition and so as not to render any judgment hereon moot and academic, the temporary restraining order prayed is granted," the CA said.

"Effective for a period of sixty (60) days from receipt of this resolution, the respondents and all those acting in their behalf are directed to cease and desist from enforcing the assailed Board Resolution 31 ..., and from proceeding with the oath-taking allegedly scheduled on Aug. 22, 2006 of those who reportedly passed the June 11 and 26 examinations for nurse licensure," the CA ordered.

In their petitions, the three groups led by the CNFA-UST told the CA that the PRC and the BoN should keep and safeguard the integrity and competence of the Philippine nursing profession "by ensuring that only those who have qualified in appropriate examinations are allowed into the profession."

The CA was also told that they obtained a copy of Resolution 31 of the BoN, but they were outraged upon learning that the board and the commission approved a scheme for using the grades from the other portions of the examinations in computing the grades from the invalidated portions "although the resolution invalidated portions of the nursing examinations given on June 1112, 2006 due to the leakage."

They said that in computing the final grade of the examinees, the PRC committed grave abuse of discretion when it combined the scores in Tests I to IV to the scores in Test V since 100 of the questions in Tests I to IV contained concepts similar to Test V.

"The nurse, who may have actually lacked competence in neuro-psychiatric nursing but was admitted to the profession based on engineered computation of her grade could do some irreversible… The interest of public health and safety demands that only nurses who have been properly screened for their competencies are allowed to perform the tasks assigned to them," they said.

They pointed out that under Section 14 of Article IV of Republic Act 9173 or the New Nursing Law, it is the duty of the PRC and the BN to compute the scores of the examinations based on the results of the tests for the five areas.

"In determining the competencies of the examinees, minus the result of the fifth test in the area of neuro-psychiatric nursing, respondent BN of the PRC deliberately ignored, in violation of Section 14, the objectives of the nursing curriculum and the broad areas of nursing that included neuro-psychiatric nursing as indispensable discipline for all who desire to enter the profession," they stressed.

At the same time, they said the scheme adopted by the PRC and BoN violated Section 15, Article IV, of RA 9173 which provides for the ratings that examinees needed to pass the examinations for nursing.

"Resort to the results of the other tests to compensate for the lack of scores in the annulled examination for Test V cannot be regarded as substantial and just compliance with what the law requires," they added.

They said they have asked the PRC to suspend or postpone the Aug. 22 oath-taking to no avail. Thus, they added, their remedy was to go to court.

As this developed, PRC director for Western Visayas Dan Malayang said that some of the board passers who trooped to Cebu to attend the oath-taking came from Manila and Mindanao. He added that PRC chairwoman Rosero approved the oath-taking.

Sen. Richard Gordon, chairman of the Senate Education Committee leading the probe, immediately scored the PRC for issuing the order.

He said that "the PRC is violating the integrity and standard of the licensure exams by fast-tracking [the oath-taking]."

The PRC pointed out that an investigation is already being conducted by the National Bureau of Investigation, saying that it will act on the results of the NBI probe.

It also maintained that its move to push through with the oath-taking was "for the benefit of the majority and not the few opposing groups."

"We should act as an administrative body to protect the rights of the (board) passers...to practice their profession," the PRC said. (with a report by Shianee Mamanglu)

FROM:http://www.mb.com.ph/MAIN2006081972128.html

Posted by Thor at 9:42 AM | | Comments

Future of RP nurses abroad in peril

Future of RP nurses abroad in peril


The outcome of the ongoing scandal on the alleged leakage in the June 2006 Nursing Board Examination could make or break the future of Filipino nurses who intend to work abroad.

"So with this leakage scandal, this is one problem that questions the intellectual property security. We are now having problems because of this," Ruth Padilla told an interview aired over ABS-CBN's Bandila newscast Friday night.

Padilla is a member of the task force that President Arroyo created to allow the country to be the host of the National Council Licensure Examination, the test that all nurses should take before working in the United States.

At present, thousands of Filipino nurses are already working for US hospitals. Thousands more are planning to leave for US and other destinations abroad.

NCLEX is normally conducted abroad. Some countries that host the test include Singapore and Malaysia. The Philippine government wanted to have NCLEX done in Manila to ease the burden on Filipino nurses who travel overseas just to take the exam.

Padilla's concern was raised as the Court of Appeals issued Friday a temporary restraining order (TRO) stopping oath-taking ceremonies for all new nurses. The TRO lasts for 60 days after allegation of a leakage in the licensure exams.

In a decision penned by Associate Justice Vicente Veloso, the court also ordered the Professional Regulation Commission to cease and desist from enforcing Board Resolution 31, which PRC issued to invalidate two portions of the exams that were allegedly leaked.

"The respondents and all those acting in their behalf, are directed to cease and desist from enforcing the assailed Board Resolution 31 dated July 17 and from proceeding with the oath-taking allegedly scheduled on August 22," the court said.

The court said it is still studying a petition to invalidate the results of the June 11-12, 2006 exam. The court set a hearing for preliminary injunction on September 14 and gave the PRC and the Board of Nursing 10 days to comment.

FROM: abs-cbn news
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryID=47788

Posted by Thor at 9:38 AM | | Comments

Nurses’ oath-taking stopped

Nurses’ oath-taking stopped
By Jose Rodel Clapano
The Philippine Star 08/19/2006

The Court of Appeals (CA) stopped yesterday the scheduled oath-taking of new nurses who passed the licensure examination conducted last June, which was tainted by the alleged leakage of exam questions.

In a resolution penned by Associate Justice Vicente Veloso, the appellate court’s special third division issued a 60-day temporary restraining order on the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) and the Board of Nursing and barred the oath-taking, which is scheduled on Tuesday.

The scandal resulted in the resignation last Thursday of Philippine Nurses Association president George Cordero following allegations that he leaked the exam questions mostly to examinees from two review centers, one of which he owns, and a school that he also runs

. PRC Chairman Leonor Rosero issued a memorandum last Thursday saying examinees who passed the licensure test may take their oath as nurses on Tuesday despite the scandal, only to suspend the oath-taking yesterday because of the court order.

PRC Commissioner Avelina de la Rea said the oath-taking was valid from their viewpoint. "But we still don’t know the legal implications of the wordings in the temporary restraining order," she said.

The court order stemmed from a petition filed by faculty members of the University of Sto. Tomas and two nursing associations, the League of Concerned Nurses and the Binuklod na Samahan ng mga Student Nurse.

They said the PRC and the nursing board should protect the integrity and competence of the profession "by ensuring that only those who have qualified in appropriate examinations are allowed into the profession." "

Consequently, petitioners are compelled to file this petition for prohibition with application for temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction, to prevent such issue of great importance to public health and safety and to the future of nurses seeking work overseas from becoming moot and academic. Petitioners have no appeal or any other plain, speedy and adequate remedy in the ordinary course of law against Resolution 31 (of the nursing board) and its implementation," the petitioners said.

UST faculty members protested the decision of the PRC and the board to include the scores in two leaked portions of the examinations in computing the examinees’ overall scores "although the resolution invalidated portions of the nursing examinations given on June 11-12, 2006 due to the leakage."

The petitioners met with the officials of the board and the PRC on July 21 to lodge their objections.

"Such objections amounted to a motion for reconsideration of respondent board’s resolution 31. But respondent board and the PRC declined to act on the objections and scheduled for Aug. 22, 2006 the oath-taking of those who supposedly passed the examinations under the scheme mentioned above for recomputing scores in the annulled test," they said in their petition to the court.

They asked the PRC to suspend the oathtaking until the anomaly was straightened out but to no avail.

"Unfortunately, leakages in Tests III as well as in Test V plagued the examinations. Many review centers acquired copies of questions asked in these tests a few days before the scheduled examination and shared these leaked questions with their reviewees. The stench of this anomaly was so massive that nursing associations and long-established schools of nursing from Tuguegarao to Zambaonga protested the careless handling of the examinations," they stated in their petition.

They emphasized that Resolution 31 had acknowledged that "20 test items out of 100 in Test III were very similar in content or substance with the leaked materials and 90 items out of 100 in Test V were identical in substance, forms, situations and choices with the leaked materials."

They said the PRC and the board should have ordered new examinations.

"Petitioners and their colleagues in academe as well as various nursing associations in the country were outraged by respondent board and PRC’s irrational action that did not take into account the public interest in maintaining and protecting the integrity and competence of the Philippine nursing profession by ensuring that only those who have qualified in appropriate examinations are allowed into the profession," they said.

De la Rea could not immediately say how the court restraining order will affect the results of the scandal-tainted examinations. "We’re going to consult the Solicitor General," she said.

The CA gave the PRC and the nursing board 10 days to submit their comments on the petition. The petitioners have five days to submit their reply on the comments. The hearing on the petition is set for Sept. 24.

Settling scores

Settling scoresAnother PRC commissioner, Renato Valdecantos, said it is unlikely that those who benefited from the leaked exam questions would be prosecuted because it would be almost impossible to identify them.

Valdecantos said those who passed did not come from one school or review center unlike similar cheating scandals in the past.

"Unfortunately, the traditional means of detecting those who cheated failed because there was no clustering of high scores," he said. "Nationwide, there are other examinees who got 88 (in one of the leaked tests) and the same kind of grade in other subjects."

Valdecantos said getting high scores did not necessarily indicate cheating. It was also possible that those who saw the leaked test questions didn’t take them seriously.

"Being a lawyer, we have a legal saying that it is better to acquit 100 criminals than convict one innocent person," he said. Of the 42,000 nursing graduates who took the examinations, about 42 percent or over 17,800 examinees passed.

De la Rea added the PRC has no records of who studied in review centers, making identification even more difficult.

Sen. Richard Gordon, who initiated a Senate inquiry into the leakage, questioned Rosero’s decision to push through with the oathtaking.

"Chairwoman Rosero should resign. PRC chairwoman Rosero’s memo directing that the various regional oath-takings be held starting Aug. 17 is highly irresponsible, considering that the Senate Investigation as well as the NBI investigation, which Rosero herself requested, are still ongoing," Gordon said.

Why are they acting with such indecent, inexplicable and unjustifiable haste? This could only mean a cover-up," he suspected.

Gordon cited Rosero’s July 13 letter requesting the National Bureau of Investigation for assistance.

"Our own investigation has established that there was such a leakage and that it was traced to the test questions manuscripts of two members of the Board of Nursing. Administrative charges for neglect of duty will be filed against these two Board members. Unfortunately, limited as we are in resources and expertise, we are unable to pursue our investigation to find out the exact extent of the irregularity and the identities of the culprits," Gordon quoted part of the letter.

He pointed out that the PRC is tasked by the law to maintain a high standard of admission to the practice of all professions, and safeguard the integrity of all licensure examinations.

"Under the circumstances, it is clear that the PRC is not ensuring and safeguarding the integrity of the licensure examination and that it has miserably failed to comply with its mandate," Gordon said.

"Senate investigations are ongoing and they have managed to ferret out new and valuable information on the culprits as well as the extent of the leakage. Why can’t the PRC wait until both the Senate inquiry and the NBI investigation into the matter are concluded and the exact extent of this debacle is uncovered?" Gordon said.

The NBI has summoned one dean, Carmelita Divinagracia, of Far Eastern University’s college of nursing*, for questioning. She was among 22 deans who reportedly attended an "enhancement review class" at an SM Manila theater where Cordero allegedly gave the questions in advance to examinees. The questions were flashed on the movie screen with a Powerpoint presentation.

An examinee had told a PRC panel that investigated the scandal that Cordero had told nursing graduates of the Philippine College of Health and Science and examinees studying at the Institute for Review and Special Studies, both of which are owned by him, to attend the so-called "enhancement review class."


The STAR tried but failed to get Divinagracia’s comment. The case officer, Martini Cruz, said the others will be questioned later as the investigation goes along.

Cordero said he resigned from his post as president of the Philippine Nurses Association to "preserve the integrity of the PNA."

Cordero was tight-lipped about his alleged involvement. "I was told by my lawyer not to talk about this for the meantime. No comment," he told an interview last Thursday.

But Cordero pointed out that his son flunked the exam, indicating that he didn’t leak the test questions. — With Sheila Crisostomo, Marvin Sy, Christina Mendez, Evelyn Macairan

http://www.philstar.com/philstar/News200608190401.htm

_____________________________________________

Jeddah's Comment:

I am a graduate of Far Easter Univeristy, Institute of Nursing (manila) and we dont have any Dean Carmelita Divinagracia. Our dean at the time of the June 11 and 12 2006 NLE is retired Dean Norma Dumadag and Associate Dean Glenda Arquiza. Right now we have a new dean but she was just appointed months after the exam was finished, and she isnt Dean Carmelita Divinagracia.

Posted by Jeddah at 12:25 AM | | Comments

Court stops nurses’ oathtaking rite

Court stops nurses’ oathtaking rite

THE Court of Appeals yesterday ordered a stop to the oathtaking of over 14,000 new nurses who passed this year’s licensure exams that were tainted by cheating.

The court gave its order to the Professional Regulation Commission and the nursing board, which had scheduled the oathtaking on Aug. 22.

It ordered both groups to freeze the oathtaking for 60 days pending a decision on a petition to stop it from the University of Sto. Tomas’ nursing faculty.

Still, the court’s decision came too late for 1,374 new nurses. They took their oath in Cebu yesterday after PRC Chairman Leonor Tripon Rosero allowed the oathtaking for all successful examinees to start on Aug. 17.

The court announced its decision even as President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo turned down an appeal from nursing school deans to intervene in the case.

She said she was leaving the Professional Regulation Commission to decide on the matter.

“At this point, the President still believes that the PRC has the situation under control,” Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said.

“We do not see yet the need for Malacañang intervention.”

The Association of Deans of Philippine Colleges of Nursing had urged the President to accept the resignation of the seven-member nursing board, which had allegedly mishandled the licensure tests on June 11 and 12 this year.

“Our second recommendation is for Malacañang to constitute a caretaker board from now until December so that the December exams may be prepared,” group vice president Marco Antonio Sto. Tomas said.

“This will give the Philippine Nurses Association, the nominating body to the [nursing board], to screen and select the best nominees,” he said.

The PRC has come under attack for allowing the oathtaking to proceed despite the controversy over the test answers leaked to some examinees.

Senator Richard Gordon yesterday demanded that Rosero resign over the tainted tests, and was quickly supported by Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr.

“Chairman Rosero should resign,” Gordon said.

“Apparently, the PRC has lost its sense of values and has bolstered [a] culture where no one is unanswerable to wrongdoing.”

Pimentel said he was supporting Gordon’s call to order PRC officials to a Senate hearing on the test leak.

“If they do not appear, they should be ordered detained for being in contempt of the Senate,” he said.

Senator Rodolfo Biazon said he recognized the commission’s authority to order the oathtaking, but that did not mean he agreed with its decision. Rey E. Requejo, Florante S. Solmerin, Joyce Pangco Pañares, Roy Pelovello

FROM : http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=news02_aug19_2006

Posted by Budek at 12:15 AM | | Comments

Friday, August 18, 2006

Court restraining order comes too

Court restraining order comes too late as some nurses take their oath

The Court of Appeals on Friday stopped the oath-taking of the new nurses who took their licensure exams on June 12.

The temporary restraining order, however, came too late to stop about 1,000 nurses in Cebu City from taking their oath.

In a decision written by Associate Justice Vicente Veloso, the court also ordered the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) not to enforce Board Resolution 31, which the PRC issued to invalidate two portions of the exams that were allegedly leaked.

“The respondents and all those acting in their behalf are directed to cease and desist from enforcing the assailed Board Resolution 31 dated July 17 and from proceeding with the oath-taking allegedly scheduled on August 22,” the court said.

It said it was still studying a petition to invalidate the results of the June 12 nursing licensure exams. The court set a hearing for preliminary injunction on September 14 and gave the PRC and the Board of Nursing 10 days to comment.

Members of the UST College of Nursing Faculty Association, the League of Concerned Nurses and the Binuklod na Samahan ng Student Nurses petitioned for the TRO.

The PRC on Thursday issued a memorandum allowing the oath-taking of new nurses, some of whom might have benefited from the leakage. Several hundred new nurses took their oaths in Metro Manila and Cebu before the court issued the TRO.

Leonor Tripon-Rosero, PRC chairman, said the commission has yet to receive a copy of the court order.

She defended the PRC decision to allow the oath-taking, adding that a majority of deans of nursing colleges nationwide supported the decision. “The sentiments of the deans are no retake and to proceed with the oath-taking,” Rosero told the ABS-CBN News Channel.

She added that the integrity of the licensure exams remained intact after the PRC invalidated two portions of the exams that were allegedly leaked.

PRC Commissioner Avelina de la Rea told DZMM that the commission is stopping all oath-taking ceremonies in the country in compliance with the court order. She added, however, that the PRC would process the licenses of nurses who took their oaths before the TRO was issued.

Dean Marco Antonio Sto. Tomas, vice-president of the Association of Deans of Philippine Colleges of Nursing, said the PRC’s decision to allow the oath-taking could affect the new nurses.

Sto. Tomas said the new nurses could have their licenses revoked if the National Bureau of Investigation proves that they benefited from the leakage.

He said the association is pushing for a retake of Tests 3 and 5 of the licensure exams to ensure the competency of the new nurses.

He said the group is also set to petition President Arroyo to accept the resignations of nursing board members linked to the scandal. He added that members of the Board of Nursing should “not be engaged in review activities or serving as deans or faculty in any college of nursing” to prevent conflict of interest.

A report issued by a PRC fact-finding probe revealed that George Cordero, president of the Philippine Nurses’ Association, paid P7 million to get the leakage.

The report said the leaked questions came from the manuscripts of nursing board members Anesia Dionisio and Virginia Madeja. The leaked questions and answers were later shown for a fee to 1,000 students in a Manila cinema three days before the board exam.

Dionisio and Madeja offered their resignations, which were not accepted until the NBI finishes its probe. Other members of the board also offered to resign.

Cordero has resigned as PNA president. He was replaced by PNA vice-president for finance Dr. Marylin Yap.

In Cebu 1,374 new nurses took their oaths, apparently unaware that the TRO had been issued. There were also oath-taking ceremonies in Iloilo and Bacolod cities.

DZMM correspondent Jun Reyes said Dan Malayang, director of the Professional Regulation Commission for Western Visayas, said some of the board passers came from Manila and Mindanao.
He added that Rosero approved the oath-taking.

The PRC issued Thursday morning Memorandum Order 2006-02 ordering the oath-taking of new nurses, some of whom might have benefited from the test leakage.

“Please be informed that the conduct of oath-taking for those who have passed the June 2006 Nursing Board Examination starts today, August 17, 2006, at your respective regions,” the memorandum signed by Rosero said.

An ABS-CBN Bandila report said board passers in Manila had already attended several oath-taking ceremonies after the PRC memo was issued.

Sen. Richard Gordon, chairman of the Senate Committee on Education leading the probe, scored the PRC for issuing the order.

“The PRC is violating the integrity and standard of the licensure exams by fast-tracking [the oath-taking],” he said.

The NBI, meanwhile, is set to include in its probe 22 deans of nursing colleges who allegedly participated in the review and coaching session held on June 8 and 9 at a cinema in Manila.
Testimonies from at least two examinees are also being considered as basis for the NBI probe.
Other witnesses said they are willing to come forward and provide information.

“They want to come forward but are afraid. In due time, they will provide information,” said Carmelita Divinagracia, a member of the association of deans of Philippine Colleges of Nursing.

Source: http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2006/aug/19/yehey/top_stories/20060819top2.html

Posted by brewed at 11:56 PM | | Comments

Exam leak report could affect job prospects of Filipina nurses

Exam leak report could affect job prospects of Filipina nurses
By Gilbert Felongco, Correspondent


Manila: A top labour official on Thursday said reports of the alleged leak of questionnaires in a recent nursing board examination could affect hiring of Filipina nurses aboard.

Administrator Rosalinda Baldoz of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (Poea) said the reported leakage has tainted the credibility of the government-administered examination.

Baldoz said due to the controversies that hounded past nursing board examinations, the Poea had deferred hosting the exams.

"We (Poea) are not being favourably considered to host the nursing examination due to alleged forgeries and fraud. This has tainted the credibility of our nursing board exams," she said.

Baldoz said the examinations are being administered by the professional regulations commission with the help of the Philippine Nursing Association.

Reports over the alleged leakage of questionnaires during the recent board exams has riled the Philippine nursing education establishment and cast doubts over the quality of health workers being turned out by the country's nursing schools.

For several decades, nurses had been considered a major skilled manpower export of the Philippines.

The country provides trained and experienced nurses to at least a dozen countries including the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland and the Middle East among others.

Filipina nurses have an established reputation for being hardworking and professional. At any given period, at least 250,000 Filipina nurses are providing healthcare to patients abroad.

But Baldoz said all this could go down the drain just because some officials had allowed several students who took the examinations to cheat.

"The reputation of the Filipino nurse has been tainted," she said.


FROM: Gulf News
http://www.gulfnews.com/world/Philippines/10060903.html

Posted by marisse at 7:18 PM | | Comments

Palace won’t intervene in nursing leak row--spokesman

Palace won’t intervene in nursing leak row--spokesman


By Veronica Uy, Lira Dalangin-Fernandez
INQ7.net
Last updated 05:25pm (Mla time) 08/18/2006


(UPDATE) DESPITE a formal appeal by a group of nursing school deans, Malacañang will not intervene in the controversy surrounding the 2006 nursing licensure examination, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s spokesman said Friday.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said they believed that the situation was under control by the Professional Regulations Commission (PRC).

"Our assessment is that the situation is under control and the PRC has the situation under control, so there's no need at this time for the Palace to intervene," Bunye said in a news briefing.

Marco Antonio Sto. Tomas, vice president of the Association of Deans of Philippine Colleges of Nursing, told INQ7.net earlier in the day that his group hand-carried a letter-appeal to the President asking her to accept the resignation of the seven-member Board of Nursing of the Professional Regulations Commission (PRC), which allegedly mishandled the last licensure exams.

"Our second recommendation is for Malacañang to constitute a caretaker board from now until December so that the December exams may be prepared," Sto. Tomas said.

"This will give the Philippine Nurses Association, the nominating body to the PRC-BON, to screen and select the best nominees," he added.

Sto. Tomas said members of the caretaker board could be nominated from past members who were still able.

The dean lamented the fact that many of those who passed the tainted June exams were now taking their oaths.

"If and when the courts decide that the decision of the PRC to proceed with the oath-taking despite the unresolved issues is illegal, mas madugo yun [it would be bloodier]. Licenses will be revoked, mas malaki lang ang apoy [it will be a bigger fire]. Our position remains the same: defer all actions until the investigations are finished," Sto. Tomas said.

FROM : http://globalnation.inq7.net/news/breakingnews/view_article.php?article_id=15968

Posted by Budek at 7:13 PM | | Comments

Dean favors invalidation of nursing board results

Dean favors invalidation of nursing board results
BY JUANCHO GALLARDE

A board member of the Association of Deans of the Philippine College of Nursing said she is in favor of invalidating the entire results of the recent nursing board examinations following the finding that it was marred by cheating.

Dr. Teresita Sinda, dean of the College of Nursing of Silliman University, Dumaguete City, Oriental Negros said she is even suggesting the dismantling of the old set of examiners in order to preserve the image of the nursing profession.

Sinda is the chairman of the Technical Committee on Nursing Education of the Commission on Higher Education. She said she was saddened by the revelation that 22 colleges of nursing all over the country were involved in the "coaching" two days before the June 11-12 board exams.

The finding prompted the Technical Committee on Nursing Education of the CHED to invalidate the results of Tests 3 and 5 of the nursing board examination.

Sinda said she wants all of the examinees to retake the test in December.

Because of cheating, she said, the integrity and credibility in the nursing profession in the country is at stake.

She also said she told a committee meeting in Manila recently that all of the 42,000 graduates who took the exams must take the tests again.

The Philippine Nurses Association also wants to invalidate the entire examination. The BON had earlier announced that retaking the tests should be voluntary on the part of the examinee.

The United Kingdom, United States of America, Canada and other countries are all eyes on the Philippines as to how the cheating and manipulation issues are being treated and resolved, Sinda said.

Silliman University sent only three examinees to the last board examination, she revealed.*JG

FROM : http://www.visayandailystar.com/2006/August/18/negor1.htm

Posted by Budek at 7:08 PM | | Comments

CA stops nurses' oath-taking over leakage in licensure exam

CA stops nurses' oath-taking over leakage in licensure exam


By Tetch Torres
INQ7.net
Last updated 05:45pm (Mla time) 08/18/2006


THE COURT of Appeals has issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the August 22 oath-taking ceremonies of nurses who passed the 2006 licensure exam pending the resolution of the controversy surrounding the alleged leakage of test questions.

In a two-page resolution, the court’s Third Division also ordered the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) and the Board of Nursing “to cease and desist” from enforcing Board Resolution 31, which they issued to invalidate the two parts of the licensure test that were allegedly given to the examinees ahead of the June 11 and 12 tests.

Following the scrapping of the questionable portions, the computations of the examinees’ scores were also revised based on the average ratings of the other topics in the test.

"The respondents and all those acting in their behalf, are directed to cease and desist from enforcing the assailed Board Resolution 31 dated July 17 and from proceeding with the oath-taking allegedly scheduled on August 22," the appeals court said in its resolution penned by Associate Justice Vicente Veloso.

The court said it was issuing the TRO to “preserve the rights of petitioners pending disposition of the subject petition and so as not to render any judgment hereon moot and academic.”

In their petition for a TRO, the University of Sto. Tomas College of Nursing Faculty Association, the League of Concerned Nurses, and the Binuklod na Samahan ng mga Student Nurses (Federation of Student Nurses Organizations) told the Court of Appeals that the PRC and the Board of Nursing violated Republic Act 9173 or the Philippine Nursing Act of 2002 by putting the publics health and safety at risk.

Section 14 of RA9173 provides the scope of the Nursing board exam while Section 15 provides the rating that examinees need to pass.

The appeals court set a hearing for preliminary injunction on September 14 at the Paras Hall.

The PRC and the Board of Nursing were given 10 days to comment while the petitioners had five days to reply.

FROM: INQ7.net
http://newsinfo.inq7.net/breakingnews/nation/view_article.php?article_id=16010

Posted by marisse at 5:59 PM | | Comments

Court stops oath-taking of nurses for 60 days

Court stops oath-taking of nurses for 60 days


The Court of Appeals on Friday issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) stopping oath-taking ceremonies for all new nurses for 60 days, DZMM reported.

In a decision penned by Associate Justice Vicente Veloso, the court ordered the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) to stop all oath-taking ceremonies for new nurses for 60 days.

The court said it is still studying a petition to invalidate the results of the June 12, 2006 nursing licensure exams after the discovery of a possible leakage of the exams. The court will release its decision on September 14.

Members of the UST College of Nursing Faculty Association, League of Concerned Nurses and Binuklod na Samahan ng Student Nurses filed the petition before the court.

“The interest of public health and safety as well as the prospects of locally trained nurses of getting overseas work to help their families and country will suffer irreparable damage," the groups' petition said.

PRC officials said they will honor the court order.

The PRC earlier issued a memorandum allowing the oath-taking of new nurses, some of whom might have benefited from a test leakage of the June 2006 licensure exams. Several hundred new nurses took their oaths in Metro Manila and Cebu before the court issued the TRO.

PRC Commissioner Avelina de la Rea defended the decision Friday, saying that it would benefit the majority of board passers. “We should act as an administrative body to protect the rights of the (board) passers...to practice their profession,” de la Rea told DZMM.

De la Rea said the decision to seek a TRO was the decision of just one group.

She added that the examinees who passed the nursing board last June 11 and 12 are competent nurses.

“In Test 3, there are only 20 leaked questions, the remaining 80 questions are not. So 80 questions answered by the examinees are enough to know one’s competency,” she said.

“This is really a perception of what’s unfair and what is not. So it is unfair, if we punish everybody for the sin of some," she added.

De la Rea said the PRC pushed through with the oath-taking because the ongoing probe of the National Bureau of Investigation would take a long time. She added that the PRC will revoke the licenses of nurses found guilty of benefiting from the leakage based on the results of the NBI probe.

FROM: ABS-CBN News
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/topofthehour.aspx?StoryId=47762

Posted by marisse at 5:31 PM | | Comments

WNC denies dean was part of leak

WNC denies dean was part of leak
BY CARLA GOMEZ

An official of the West Negros College yesterday denied allegations that the nursing dean or any of WNC's representatives was present when 1,000 students attended a coaching session at a Manila moviehouse where leaked questions and answers for the June nursing board examinations were flashed on the screen.

Elmer Bolivar, WNC Alumni and Information Office director, said WNC nursing dean Zenaida Hilado was in Bacolod when the alleged leak was shown in a moviehouse in Manila on June 8 and 9.

Hilado was in Bacolod, and on June 8 she was even preparing flowers for the birthday of WNC president Suzette Agustin, which she attended on June 9, Bolivar said. Hilado went to Manila on June 11 to bring WNC's answers to the claims of the Professional Regulation Commission that its nursing students had deficiencies, he said.

The PRC did not allow 60 WNC nursing graduates to take the board examinations given on June 11 and 12, Bolivar pointed out.

He also said that very few WNC graduates reviewed with the Institute for Review and Special Studies , which was cited in the leak probe, and only one of them passed.

A report from ABS-CBN Manila said 22 deans of various universities and colleges are now being investigated for the leakage in the June nursing board examination.

The PRC also reportedly said that those present at the briefing of nursing students at a Manila moviehouse were representatives of the Iloilo Doctor's Hospital, Lorma College in La Union, University of Northern Philippines in Vigan, Arellano University in Manila, West Negros College in Bacolod, Bataan Polytechnic College, Central Luzon Doctor's Hospital in Tarlac and the Philippine College of Health and Sciences in Manila.

Meanwhile, PRC Regional Director Lily Ann Baldago said WNC June board passers from Negros Occidental will take their oaths at L Fisher Hotel in Bacolod 8 a.m. today.*CPG


FROM : http://www.visayandailystar.com/2006/August/18/topstory4.htm

Posted by Budek at 4:01 PM | | Comments

'PNA president paid for test questions' -- testimonies

‘PNA president paid for test questions’ -- testimonies

August 17, 2006
Updated 01:01:58 (Mla time)

INQ7.net


(2ND UPDATE) THE president of the Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) allegedly boasted of having paid millions of pesos and sending two examiners abroad in exchange for leaked questions to this year’s nursing licensure examinations, according to testimony given before the Senate on Wednesday.

The testimonies indicated that the leakage of the nursing test questions was more widespread than originally thought, when it was believed confined to Baguio.

For the second time in the course of the Senate inquiry into the nursing test scandal, ranking officials of the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), Commission on Higher Education (CHED), and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) snubbed the hearing.

Senator Richard Gordon, for his part, opposed the decision of the PRC Board of Nursing (BON) to allow graduates the choice of voluntarily retaking the nursing board exams, calling it a “cop-out.”

Despite the non-appearance of PRC commissioners, two members of the BON showed up and submitted a clarificatory report on a fact-finding they undertook into the test leak.

BON chairperson Eufemia Octaviano and member Letty Kuan said Pamela Ortega, a graduate of the Philippine College of Health Science (PCHS), approached them after the nursing test and revealed the leak to them.

According to Ortega, whom they interviewed as part of their fact-findings, PNA president George Cordero, who is also president of the PCHS, which has campuses in Manila and Bataan, and the Inress Review Center in Manila, had boasted of paying seven million pesos and sending two BON officials to Switzerland for free.

Cordero, who was invited to the hearing, is confined at Saint Luke's Hospital, according to PNA vice president Victoria Ramon.

GMA Network’s 24 Oras reported that it tried to get the PNA president’s side but that he declined to give a statement.

According to Ortega, during the review's enhancement program, Cordero had given her and other reviewers of Inress a list of 500 questions, of which he said 100 would come out.

“I did not pay seven million pesos and brought two board (of nursing) officials to Switzerland for nothing,” Cordero was supposed to have said, according to Ortega's testimony before Kuan and Octaviano.

“Naghambog ata dun sa kanila (He must have bragged to them),” Kuan told the Senate.

Octaviano admitted she and BON member Anesia Dionisio attended a conference in Switzerland of the International Council of Nurses but added that they spent for the trip on their own.

Kuan also told the Senate that Ortega had reported having been scolded by Cordero after she testified.

The account of the BON members was bolstered by another PCHS graduate, Dennis Bautista, who appeared before the Senate to testify that Cordero handed out a list of questions that eventually came out in the psychiatric nursing, surgical and medical tests.

Like the first examinee, Rachel Cyndi-Erfe of Baguio, who testified before the Senate, Bautista said the examination included questions containing “situations and names exactly the same as those in Cordero's review.”

He said Cordero gave out the “leaks” separately on June 8 and 9 at the Cinema 9 of SM Manila, where the final coaching for Inress reviewers and those invited from other schools took place.

He also told the Senate that Ortega had been scolded by Cordero after she testified and that her diploma and transcript of records have been withheld.

Senator Rodolfo Biazon, head of the committee on civil service and government reorganization which is undertaking the probe, said he received letters from the invited officials informing him of their refusal to attend unless provided with a list of questions to be asked of them.

“Their absence tells us (they are) not concerned with our nurses' welfare,” Biazon said in his introductory speech at the hearing Wednesday.

“The decision of the PRC-BON for a voluntary retake is a cop-out solution. It cannot remove the blemish which taints this batch of nursing examinees brought about by the leakage affecting a significant portion of the recent board examinations,” Gordon said.

Gordon also stressed the need to bring closure to the issue by punishing those whose “rapacity and greed” has put Filipino nursing graduates at risk of losing both local and foreign employment opportunities.

“If this issue is not properly addressed and no closure is brought to this matter, it will haunt these nurses for life and will jeopardize their opportunities for employment both here and abroad,” he said.

“The world looks to the Philippines to fill the nursing shortages in many countries due to the reputation of Filipino nurses for competence, diligence, and compassion,” he said.

Gordon earlier recommended that the last batch of nursing applicants retake the entire nursing exam or at least tests three and five, the sections affected by the leak.

But Biazon said he supports the proposal to give successful examinees the option of retaking the licensure test.

The nursing board given in June was taken by a total of 42,006 nursing graduates.

Forty-two percent or 17,871 of the examinees passed.


FROM: INQ7.net
http://services.inq7.net/express/06/08/17/html_output/xmlhtml/20060816-15610-xml.html

Posted by marisse at 11:57 AM | | Comments

Nurses’ association president quits post

Nurses’ association president quits post
By Sheila Crisostomo
The Philippine Star 08/18/2006

Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) president George Cordero has resigned from his post amid accusations that he was involved in the leakage in the nursing board examination given last June.

"I decided to resign because I want to preserve the integrity of the PNA," Cordero, who is recuperating at St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City where he underwent surgery, told The STAR yesterday.

Cordero was replaced by Mylene Yap, the erstwhile PNA vice president for finance.

Cordero was linked to the alleged leakage by a fact-finding body formed by the Professional Regulation commission (PRC) to investigate the irregularity.

During its investigation, several witnesses testified that Cordero had information about the leakage prior to the examination held last June 11 and 12.

Cordero was tight-lipped when asked about this issue.

"I was told by my lawyer not to talk about this for the meantime. No comment," he said.

But Cordero claimed that if he was indeed involved in the leakage, his son — who took up the licensure examination — should have passed.

"Hindi siya pumasa (He flunked)," he said.

One witness, Dean Mary Grace Lacanaria of St. Louis University’s college of nursing, noted that prior to the examination, Cordero met with 22 deans of mostly low-performing nursing schools and examinees at a movie house in SM Manila for "final coaching."

Her testimony was corroborated by examinee Pamela Ortega, who said Cordero had asked graduates of the Philippine College of Health and Sciences (PCHS) in C.M. Recto, Manila and reviewees of the Institute for Review and Special Studies (INRESS), which he both owned, to attend the "enhancement review class."

Ortega added that the leaked "situations, questions and answers" were flashed on the movie screen in the form of a Powerpoint presentation.

In a related development, the PRC allowed yesterday those who passed the controversial June 2006 licensure examination for nursing to take their oath despite a petition for temporary restraining order to stop the oathtaking.

PRC Commissioner Avelina de la Rea said they decided to allow the oathtaking to take place to be fair to those who already want to move on and pursue a career as nurses.

"They can now come here and register if they want to take their oath," she said in an interview. The nurses, however, are advised to wear their gala during the oathtaking.

Traditionally, the PRC administers mass oathtaking among those who passed licensure tests.

For the June 2006 batch of nurses, the mass oathtaking was scheduled on Aug. 22 at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City. But this had been postponed upon the request made by nursing school deans in the wake of the controversy spawned by the alleged leakage of answers to the exam.

De La Rea said around 400 of those who passed the board exam registered yesterday for the oathtaking, which can be done at the PRC auditorium with authorized PRC officials administering the oath.

No oathtaking yet

Faculty members of the University of Sto. Tomas (UST) and two other nurses’ organizations asked the Court of Appeals (CA) yesterday to stop the 14,000 new nurses who passed the board exams from taking their oath on Aug. 22.

In a 16-page petition filed through lawyer Pia Cristina Bersamin, the UST College Nursing Faculty Association, led by its president Rene Luis Tadle; the League of Concerned Nurses, headed by its president Earl Francis Sumile; and Binuklod na Samahan ng mga Student Nurse, headed by its president Michael Angelo Brant asked the CA to

immediately issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the PRC and the Board of Nursing from implementing its Resolution 31 issued last July 17 allowing the new nurses to take their oaths.

The petitioners said the PRC and the nursing board must maintain and protect the integrity and competence of the Philippine nursing profession "by ensuring that only those who have qualified in appropriate examinations are allowed into the profession."

Tadle’s group said that last July 18, they obtained a copy of Resolution 31, but they were outraged upon learning that the Board and the PRC approved a scheme for using the grades from the other

portions of the examinations in computing the grades from the invalidated portions "although the resolution invalidated portions of the nursing examinations given on June 11-12, 2006 due to the leakage."

He said that during a dialogue with the nursing board and the PRC last July 21, they and others with interest in the nursing profession lodged their objections to the admission of examinees based on engineered grades in the subject of neuro-psychiatric nursing.

"Unfortunately, leakages in Tests III as well as in Test V plagued the examinations. Many review centers acquired copies of questions asked in these tests a few days before the scheduled examination and shared these leaked questions with their reviewees. The stench of this anomaly was so massive that nursing associations and long-established schools of nursing from Tuguegarao to Zamboanga protested the careless handling of the examinations," Tadle said.

Tadle said last July 17, the nursing board, with the PRC’s approval, issued Resolution 31 where it admitted that "20 test items out of 100 in Test III were very similar in content or substance with the leaked materials and 90 items out of 100 in Test V were identical in substance, forms, situations and choices with the leaked materials."

He said instead of making its duty of ordering a retake of examinations in the affected tests, the board invalidated the 20 items of Test III and merely ordered the re-constitution of the scores in Test V, "by imputing to it the average scores from Tests I to IV."

"Petitioners and their colleagues in academe, as well as various nursing associations in the country, were outraged by respondent board and PRC’s irrational action that did not take into account the public interest in maintaining and protecting the integrity and competence of the Philippine nursing profession by ensuring that only those who have qualified in appropriate examinations are allowed into the profession," Tadle said.

He said his group and other interest groups submitted their objections and motions for reconsideration, verbally and in writing, during a dialogue with PRC and the nursing board last July 21, but the PRC scheduled the oathtaking without ruling on their objections. — With Jose Rodel Clapano

FROM : http://www.philstar.com/philstar/News200608180404.htm

Posted by Budek at 11:00 AM | | Comments



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