Ninety-two examinees in this city filed the case in the PRC. The case was backed by more than 400 PNA members.

Punish two BON members

Northern Dispatch (Nordis) learned from the nurses leaders that the two BON members allegedly involved in the scam as the Sets III and V of the examinations were traced from them were Anecia Dionisio and Virginia Madeja. They were allegedly stopped from performing their functions but are not suspended that would have prevented them from using their positions to influence the on-going investigation.

Nursing professionals said that the PRC task force which is conducting an investigation tends to exonerate the two members of the BON and their cohorts in the leakage scam considered to the worst on the history of Philippine licensure examination.

“The BON members filed their courtesy resignations on July 21, 24 and 26 but the PRC rejected it,” added Anonuevo who saluted the 92 Baguio complainants for their courage in exposing the alleged leakage.

PNA, the Associations of Deans in the Cordillera, and the examinees hit the PRC for not forming an independent fact-finding body to investigate the scam and their move which tends to exonerate those involved in the scam.

The PRC has denied any scam but backtracked from their statement when more leaked questions were revealed even in Metro Manila.

Symptom of worst health care

Both Lorenzo and Anonuevo said that the scam is a symptom of the present crisis in the country’s health care system.

Lorenzo observed that the quality of the nurses’ graduates has declined as the passing rate slowly goes down – from 54 % in 2004 to the present 42%. She said that while the number of nursing schools has doubled to 400 many of these are not performing well. These schools produce poor graduates and do anything including leakage just to evade the closure of their profitable nursing schools.

Lorenzo, who teaches at the University of the Philippines’ College of Nursing in Manila, resigned as member of the technical group of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) monitoring nursing schools over Malacanang’s failure to adopt recommendations to improve the nursing and health care system.

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