Senate approves supplemental budget of P47B

First posted 03:15am (Mla time)
Sept 07, 2006

By Juliet Labog-Javellana, TJ Burgonio

Inquirer Editor's Note: Published on page A16 of the September 7, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

[snip]

No budget for retest

Rosero retorted that she neither ignored the invitation nor snubbed the hearings, but was just “following the guidelines” of Memorandum Circular No. 108 that spells out the conditions for executive department officials to appear in congressional inquiries.

Drilon said the P14 million would be stricken off the supplemental budget in the Senate version, and be realigned.

Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya Jr. said the P14-million special fund was a “last-minute” amendment to the House version of the bill, to fund a nursing board re-test that the government intended to give for free.

At the hearing, Rosero told the senators that the PRC had decided against a retake as it was impossible to identify all the candidates who benefited from the leak of some test questions and answers.

Some 17,000 nursing graduates passed out of the more than 40,000 who took the exams.