Palace swamped with angry text messages vs exam retake

By Christine Avendaño
Inquirer
Last updated 09:28am (Mla time) 10/09/2006

NOT CONTENT with the media, some passers in the controversial nursing examinations and their parents have found another way to make sure their voices are heard by Malacañang.

They swamped the mobile phone of Presidential Chief of Staff Michael Defensor with hundreds of text messages to register their protest against the holding of an exam retake.

Some of the messages came at odd hours.

The text offensive has come at a time when President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her Cabinet are preparing to meet no Tuesday to decide whether to go ahead with their earlier decision to order a retake of the exam.

Malacañang is expected to take into consideration the findings of the National Bureau of Investigation on who among the more than 17,000 examinees who passed the June exams benefited from leaked test questions.

Defensor said on Sunday he had received about 300 text messages the past week from nursing students and their parents. Several messages came from Cebu province.

And all of them said they did not benefit from the leakage. They also wanted Ms Arroyo to know they opposed retaking the tests.

“There were some texters who argued why they should have to suffer when those who benefited from the leakage of the test questions were in Manila and Baguio,” Defensor said.

Other texters asked why Malacañang should believe the person who blew the whistle on the leak.

Defensor said three messages came from “angry” texters who said it was unfair of the Palace to order a retake of the exam. One of the texters was from Cebu and another from Capiz province.

“I told them I understand how they were feeling and for them to be patient as we will try to resolve the issue fairly,” Defensor said.