Nurses’ alliance welcomes CA decision

First posted 05:51pm (Mla time)
Oct 14, 2006
By Juliet Labog-Javellana
Inquirer

THE Alliance of New Nurses (ANN) on Saturday hailed the decision of the Court of Appeals allowing some 16,000 of them to take their oaths and receive the license to practice their profession, and expressed hope that other parties would not prolong their agony and contest the decision in the Supreme Court.

"Our group is happy with the decision. At least the 16,000 of us can move on," Renato Aquino Jr., president of the organization formed by the board passers, told the Inquirer in a phone interview. "We also appeal to the other party not to elevate this to the Supreme Court. We want to move on and put a closure to [this controversy]."

But while it was a victory for those who passed, “we are sad for the 1,600 of us who will have to retake” portions of the exam affected by the leakage, Aquino said.

He said that as of Saturday, their "preliminary consensus'' was no longer to appeal for the 1,687 who the court ruled should retake Tests III and V because an appeal could drag on.

"We are still consulting some people but some of (the 1,687) might decide to just have a retake this December so that they can also move on,'' Aquino said. He also appealed to the Professional Regulation Commission not to push through with its decision to publish the names of the 1,687 who would be asked to do a retake in newspapers. He said the list should just be posted in the PRC premises.

Aquino said the ANN members will hold a thanksgiving Mass and a prayer vigil "so that this will no longer go to the Supreme Court.''

Commission on Filipinos Overseas Chair Dante Ang, one of the petitioners who asked the appellate court to order a retake by all examinees, said he was consulting his lawyers on whether to appeal the ruling.

"I respect the decision of the Court of Appeals. However, I find the need for some questions to be clarified. But despite my reservations, I hope the decision of the CA could bring closure to this issue and I hope this decision will restore the integrity of the (professional licensure) system,'' Ang said in a phone interview.

Ang, president of the presidential task force lobbying to make the Philippines a testing site for the US National Council Licensure Examinations, had questioned the decision of the PRC to recompute the grades after invalidating some questions in the two subjects affected by the leakage, which he said perpetuated mediocrity.

He said the PRC gave a 2 percent bonus, thus allowing those who originally got failing grades of, for example, 73 percent to pass with a grade of 75 percent. Ang said the solution employed by the PRC was "questionable and incredible.''

The court struck down the PRC’s recomputation, which in effect not only increased the grades of some examinees but also lowered the grades of others to the point of failing them.

As a result of the recomputation, 1,687 examinees who had originally failed got a boost and obtained passing grades. These are the ones who the court said must retake the exams. Another group of 1,200 who initially passed the exams got failing grades after the recomputation, and were ordered by the court to be restored to the roster of passers.

The court left it to the executive department to determine who of the examinees benefited from the leakage of test questions and answers and what measures to take in dealing with them.