CA allows oath-taking of over 15,000 nursing board passers

First posted 03:35pm (Mla time)
Oct 26, 2006
By Tetch Torres
GMA7, INQ7.net

(3RD UPDATE) THE COURT of Appeals has ruled that the more than 15,000 nursing examinees who passed the June licensure test can now take their oaths.

Associate Justice Vicente Veloso said they could see no legal impediment to allowing the oath-taking and had no more intention of issuing any more injunctions against the final step board passers have to take to become professional nurses.

The appeals court issued the decision after more than five hours of conciliation talks with all parties concerned.

Those who attended the talks were representatives from the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), the Board of Nursing (BON), Office of the Solicitor General, and some of the petitioners.

They all agreed to allow more than 15,000 board passers to take their oaths.
The number represents the 41.2 percent of the 42,000 who took the nursing board and who were deemed to have passed before the test scores were recomputed in the wake of the leakage’s discovery, to take their oaths.

"Those who can take the oath is now embodied in our ruling," Veloso said. “We have no intention to stop the exercise of the rights of those who passed.”

The PRC has already provided the Appeals Court with the names of those who will take their oath.

GMA Network’s “Flash Report” said the University of Santo Tomas (UST), which had been batting for a total retake of the exams for all board takers, was not satisfied with the ruling because of a pending motion it had filed before the appellate court.

The PRC is set to meet later Thursday to decide how the oath-taking ceremonies will be held, the same report said.

Meanwhile, more than 1,000 examinees who were deemed to have passed after the PRC recomputation but who the appeals court said should retake the portions of the nursing board in which questions were leaked will take their case to the Supreme Court, the GMA7 report said.