GMA gives nod to one last appeal on nursing exam retake

President Arroyo has given the go-signal to a special task force to make a last-ditch appeal to the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools or CGFNS to reconsider its stand against Filipino nurses who passed the cheating-tainted June 2006 licensure examinations.

Mrs. Arroyo allowed members of a special task force to fly to the US and request the CGFNS to reverse its ruling against issuing VisaScreen certificates to Filipino nurses who passed the controversial exams.

Bacolod City Rep. Monico Puentebella leads the task force, which is composed of representatives from the Board of Nursing (BON) and from the Philippine Nursing Association. The group is expected to meet CGFNS officials on March 5.

"The task force from Congress headed by Monico Puentebella requested that we allow them and give them another chance to go to the US and make the appeal personally,’’ Mrs. Arroyo said after presiding over a televised round table discussion on the economy with her economic managers.

But even as the task force prepares to meet with CGFNS officials, Palace officials and concerned government agencies are gearing up for a possible retake. The preparations include the initial allocation of P17 million to subsidize the retake.

Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya Jr. said state universities and colleges were informed that they might be tapped as venues for the retake of the exams.

"There should be no more (contradictory) pronouncements so that there will be some moral backing for the team when they go there (US),’’ Presidential chief of staff Joey Salceda said. "We are morally supporting the last-ditch efforts, there is nothing to lose.’’

He also downplayed criticisms that allowing Puentebella’s group to make a last-ditch appeal would only prolong the agony of the board passers.

"It will not take that long. We will immediately know whether the last ditch effort is really futile,’’ Salceda said.

The Board of Nursing will meet next week to discuss the mechanics of the retake.

BON member Marco Sto. Tomas said the discussions would tackle the most convenient schedule for the retake of the controversial tests 3 and 5.

Sto. Tomas said that 2006 board passers who opted not to take the June 2007 exams would be provided with 1,000 new sets of questions.

Sto. Tomas also pushed for a stronger collaboration among the Department of Labor and Employment, BON, and other concerned agencies, so as to enable the public to better understand the decision of the CGFNS.

CGFNS said only the June 2006 passers who opted to retake tests 3 and 5 would have the chance to secure VisaScreen certificates.

One proposal is to require only those who wish to work in the United States to retake the exams, Sto. Tomas said. – With Helen Flores