PRC must decide quickly on Nursing scam!

The topic on tonight's show on Straight from the Sky is quite relevant because of our problems with our dducational system, where too often, graduates who take the usual college courses end up having no work because none are available. But the reality on the ground is that, there are a lot of jobs available out there, but no one apparently cared to prepare themselves in school to take up these jobs or schools just don't offer courses for these available jobs.

A case in point is a the newly-signed memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the Aboitiz Construction Group, Inc-led by the Metaphil Division and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Region VII to set up the Metaphil-TESDA Institute for Technical Training (MTiTT). This MOA was designed to address an imminent problem - lack of skilled workers in certain industries like metal fabrication or shipbuilding. With Hyundai Corporation opening up a huge shipyard in Subic, or the Atlas Mining resuming operations very soon, you can bet that they would try to pirate workers at the Tsuneishi Cebu shipyard and other companies doing the same jobs.

Too many of our students are taking courses in preparation for "white collar" jobs either in the IT industry or business sectors like banking. But industry is a major factor in a developing country and with the Philippines poised to overtake countries like Korea or Japan in the Shipbuilding industry because their labor has become too expensive and therefore uncompetitive in a global market, we must prepare our workforce for this eventuality, which to my mind is just around the corner.

To give you a background of this new program, we brought to you Mr. Iker Aboitiz, Chief Finance Officer (CFO) of Aboitiz Construction Group Inc., Mr. Boy Yanco, AVP for Operations of Aboitiz Construction, Mr. Eugenio Pulvera Jr., Fabrication foreman and MtiTT Trainer and TESDA Regional Director VII Urbano B. Budtan. See them on SkyCable's channel 15 at 8:00PM.

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The latest rumor about that leakage in last June's Nursing Licensure Examinations is that since there is already some kind of concrete evidence, which indicates that there was indeed a leakage in the examination the Professional Regulations Commission (PRC) will soon decide to make, all those who took the exams do a retake! Now whether this is fair or not depends upon your situation. For those who studied hard and passed the examinations without seeing any leakage, this is totally unfair, unjust and discriminatory in the sense that only few people cheated, while the rest studied as hard as they could and passed the exams.

To those who studied hard, but failed they look at this opportunity as a "Godsend" because they would be doing a retake as if they never failed at all! Now for those who cheated I'm sure they have realized that their stupidity by cheating has not assured them of passing the examinations, now they stand to fail if and when they can't find leaks anymore. Curse these people who cheated for destroying the Filipino name.

I just learned that Catanduanes Rep. Joseph Santiago has asked the Ombudsman to launch a criminal investigation of the alleged leakage in the June nursing licensure examinations, saying, "no effort should be spared to ascertain the possible culpability of all officials as well as private entities and individuals implicated in the mess." Rep. Santiago added, "We must stress that adequate and immediate corrective steps are absolutely imperative, here and now, to repel future cheats and prevent another damaging leakage. Several professional licensure examinations are being conducted even as we speak."

At this point, we learned that the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) has removed and filed administrative charges against two members of its Nursing Board. What about the Review Center from Baguio City, which was linked to this scam. The Ombudsman must act swiftly. Those Nursing Board members should be jailed and put on the hold order list, lest they apply for nursing jobs abroad and disappear from the scene. The million-peso question now is whether the PRC would require all those who took the exams to do a retake or perhaps retake the subjects that were leaked on medical-surgical and psychiatric nursing?

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I would like to announce the joyous passing to eternal life of our beloved mother, Ascension Segura Avila who died peacefully in her sleep. Her vigil will be in her residence in Sacred Heart Hill, Capitol Hills, Juaña Osmeña Ext. Interment will be on Tuesday the Feast of the Assumption at Cempark after the 3:00PM Mass at the Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Parish. May we request the pious reader to please pray for the repose of her soul.

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For email responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit's columns can also be accessed at www.shootinginsidecebu.blogspot.com