Nursing board passers launch signature drive against CA order

Board passers in the leakage-tainted nursing licensure exam last June have formed an alliance and launched a signature drive to demand the prosecution of the perpetrators of the irregularities without sacrificing their wishes not to take another exam.

Renato Aquino, head of the "Alliance of New Nurses," said that they have decided to join forces "so that their voices will be heard."

The group laments the fact that they are being sacrificed by some sectors that are pressing for a retake of Tests 3 and 5.

"This is an informal group but we felt we have to join forces so that our voices will be heard. We are the victims here but we are the ones being prosecuted," he told The STAR.

He said they would collect the signatures of all those who passed the board and submit this to Malacañang, the Senate, House of Representatives and other concerned bodies.

"We are trying to reach out to those in the provinces through the friends of our friends... We are definitely against the retake of exams. It is unfair for us to go through sleepless nights prior to and after the exam just to satisfy the request of a few," he noted.

Aquino said many of the nursing board passers come from provinces and they spend for their board and lodging to review in Metro Manila.

"For those of us who were working, we gave up our jobs or took months off from work without the benefit of compensation just to concentrate on the Board. We missed family gatherings, had broken relationships to get a passing mark," he said.

The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) supports the position of the passers in not taking another nursing exam and gave assurances that the leaked questions have been excluded.

But various sectors, including the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) which has been convincing the United States to put up a National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) testing center in the Philippines, are in favor of a retake of Tests 3 and 5.

Aquino added those behind the leakage should be identified and prosecuted and appealed that they be spared from personal persecution.

"We already suffered persecution from media branding us as a batch of cheaters when in fact, hardly anyone bothered to seek us out to air our side. We were able to pass the board exams with our integrity intact, upholding the family names our parents and our forefathers worked so hard to keep clean," he added.

Meanwhile, the PRC reiterated yesterday that nursing board passers truly deserved the grades they earned.

In a joint statement issued by PRC Chairman Leonor Rosero, Commissioners Avelina dela Rea and Renato Valdecantos and Board of Nursing chair Dr. Eufemia Octaviano and members Drs. Remedios Hernadez, Letty Kuan and Estelita Galutira, they gave assurances that the "June 2006 passers are real passers."

"The results of the examination have been cleansed of leaked questions. The released June results are clean," they said.

The officials branded as "purely speculative" fears that NCLEX would not be put up in the Philippines because of the leakage controversy.

"The nursing leaders calling for a retake of the exams are offering a sacrifice that has not been made a condition by the NCLEX. More serious steps of cleansing the profession’s ranks may be more convincing," they added.