The President’s worst nightmare

First posted 01:05am (Mla time)
Oct 16, 2006
Inquirer

Editor's Note: Published on page A16 of the October 16, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

FOR A TIME, GLORIA MACAPAGAL-Arroyo was truly caught between a rock and a hard place in the nursing licensure exam mess.

When she ordered a retake, she infuriated thousands of nursing graduates who passed without cheating.

When she ordered “no-retake,” she dimmed the overseas job prospects of these same graduates, and endangered the flow of dollar remittances which keep the economy afloat.

But her worst nightmare was if she had to finally order a retake, she would have pissed off her personal dentist, Professional Regulation Commission Chair Leonor Tripon-Rosero. And the next time GMA would have to go to her for a root canal treatment, the President would have been dead meat.

—JIMMY S. ONG, 13 San Mateo, Bo. Kapitolyo, Pasig City