Palace orders PRC to suspend nurses’ oath-taking

By Lira Dalangin-Fernandez
INQ7.net
Last updated 02:05pm (Mla time) 10/16/2006

MALACAÑANG has ordered the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) to suspend administering the oath to new nurses after the Court of Appeals ruled a “selective retake” on the June licensure exams.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said the court decision would become final and executory only 15 days after it has been received by the PRC.

At the same time, Ermita said Labor Secretary Arturo Brion would "try to exert effort at conciliation" with stakeholders who might appeal the court decision.

Ermita said these decisions were firmed up in a meeting with Brion and Solicitor General Antonio Eduardo Nachura in Malacañang Monday.

"While the Court of Appeals decision was handed down October 13, it has not been served yet to PRC, and even if it has been served it would take another 15 days to become final and executory, so DoLE thought it prudent to instruct PRC not to administer the oath today [Monday]," Ermita said in a news briefing Monday.


Ermita also said that the National Bureau of Investigation has been asked to submit to DoLE a list of those who enrolled in the review centers of Gapuz, Inress, and Pentagon so that this could be matched with the list of those who passed.

The three centers are being investigated after being linked to the leakage in the board exam.

Amid the investigation, Ermita said the 1,687 students whom the court had ordered to retake tests 3 and 5, where the alleged leaked questions came from, could go higher.

"We are trying to identify who attended the last session in these three review centers who may have passed and therefore if it is determined that they are not yet in that 1,687 then they will also be ordered to retake only on tests 3 and 5," Ermita said.Ermita also said President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo would accept the resignation of the members of the Board of Nursing of the PRC, which had supervised the tests. He said Brion had a list of replacements for the board.

He said the new members of the board would supervise the retake and the regular nursing exams when they are given on December 2 and 3.