Gwen assures continued support to no board retake

Governor Gwendolyn Garcia believes the retake order of Malacañang for all those who took this year's nursing licensure exams is "premature" considering that the Court of Appeals has yet to resolve the case filed over the oathtaking of those who passed the exams.

"As I understand, there is a case pending in court. And I hope that that case will first be resolved. It would be premature karon nga mohimo ta og mga lakang," she told reporters yesterday morning.

But when told that President Arroyo is expected to issue an executive order authorizing the retake of Nursing exams after the Cabinet decided it is the only way to remove doubts cast on the results, Garcia said she would look into the matter.

She, nevertheless, promised to raise the matter before the President who was expected to drop by in a meeting of local chief executives all over the country with regards to the implementation of the supra-regions.

Garcia also bats for the nursing licensure examinees in the Visayas-Mindanao area, especially those that are from Cebu, to be spared from the retake plan.

"First of all, I share the anguish of our Nursing board examinees that have already passed - those who come from Cebu - because as I understand, the cheating was limited only in a certain portion in Manila," she said.

In effect, the governor is one with the Provincial Board that passed a resolution appealing to Arroyo for exemption of VisMin examinees from the retake plan, describing the move as a "grueling and expensive exam" meant to punish the innocent examinees.

At the Cebu City Hall, the council yesterday approved en masse against the retaking of the examinees who took and passed the June 11 and 12 Nursing Licensure Board Examinations in the city.

In a privilege speech delivered by councilor Edgardo Labella, the councilor argued that, "the examinees here are victims and not culprits. They should not be made to suffer for the indiscretions of a few."

Labella, in his speech, is asking the Office of the President to direct the investigating agencies of government, including the Office of the Ombudsman, the National Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice, to conduct a thorough no-nonsense investigation without delay to bring to the bar of justice those responsible in the perpetration of the cheating controversy.

Labella, also the legal counsel of the Visayan examinees, said that a no-nonsense investigation should be done rather than hastily deciding on the retaking of the examinees including those who are actually innocent of the alleged leakage perpetrated by some unscrupulous officials in conspiracy with some review centers.

Senator Ralph Recto had earlier asked Malacañang to exempt takers from the new exam in light of the fact that the inquiry of the NBI concluded that the cheating was only confined to Manila and Baguio City.

Recto pointed out passers of those who took the June 11 and 12 exams in Visayas, Mindanao, Southern Tagalog, Bicol and Cagayan Valley made it "fair and square", saying "there is not an iota of evidence to suggest that tests held in the south were attended with anomalies, so there's no reason to torture these honest nurses with another round of testing".

Labor Secretary Arturo Brion issued statement the other day that both passers and flunkers would have to take the tests after the Cabinet decided it is the only way to remove the doubt cast on the results by those who had cheated.

Out of the more than 40,000 Nursing graduates who took the exam, there were more than 17,000 who passed from all over the country.

Meanwhile, Fr. Carmelo Diola joined in the call to oppose the retake as he personally considered it unfair to those who honestly studied and reviewed for the test.

Diola bared Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal has not yet officially voiced out his opinion on the issue of the retake.

Diola said the cheating committed by some students during the examination should not implicate majority of the Nursing graduates who strove hard to pass the test. - Cristina C. Birondo, Garry B. Lao and Jasmin R. Uy