NBI officials admonished for ‘whitewash’ in nursing exam probe

Lawmakers scolded yesterday an official and an agent of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for what they perceived to be a sloppy investigation of last June’s nursing licensure examination that was allegedly marred by the leakage of test questions.

Iloilo City Rep. Arthur Defensor and other lawmakers said the poor conduct of the NBI probe has made them suspicious of a cover-up.

"We had always suspected that the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) had been dictating the NBI investigation. There’s a whitewash here. There’s a cover-up," Iloilo City Rep. Arthur Defensor told NBI deputy director Elfren Meneses Jr. and agent Martin Cruz.

Zambales Rep. Milagros Magsaysay said the investigation didn’t dig deep enough and had practically absolved PRC officials and review centers suspected of involvement.

"Why is it that you seem to be just taking orders from PRC? Try to look into the complaints of other complainants. PRC employees should also be investigated if they really are involved in this. How come we have copies of the leak if this didn’t come from PRC?" she asked.

Meneses assured the panel members the NBI will do its best to conduct a thorough probe. Cruz, the agent on case, revealed that he has been in the bureau for six years and that he is a certified public accountant, not a lawyer.

"I assure you (panel) that we will do our very best," Meneses said. He clarified that the recommendation they made for the indictment of two Board of Nursing members suspected of leaking the exam questions was a "partial report" and their probe was "ongoing."

"This has very serious international repercussions. Whether you like it or not, your (NBI’s) objectivity and impartiality is the one at stake here. Don’t make us lose our faith in you," Defensor reminded the NBI officials.

Among the things that irked lawmakers was when Cruz could not say how many were actually involved in the scandal. He said two nursing board members were liable but the NBI has "more or less 20 persons being investigated."

"You already have that conclusion when you were just starting to investigate? There might be a reason to investigate you also," Defensor said. "Why is it you don’t seem to be interested in investigating the PRC or review centers?"

"We don’t have an objective investigator here. He already gave us an inkling on how the conclusion will be. Is this how you really work?" Magsaysay said.

Amid mounting criticism, the PRC has remained pat on its position not to order new nursing licensure examinations even though the last one was marred by cheating.

PRC chairwoman Leonor Rosero maintained it was no longer necessary to hold new tests because the PRC did not include scores from the two scandal-tainted tests of the five-part examinations in computing the examinees’ overall scores.

Last month, the Court of Appeals issued a 60-day temporary restraining order, calling on the PRC not to swear in the new nurses until the issue is resolved.

The court has scheduled a hearing on a petition filed by the faculty of the University of Sto. Tomas and two nursing groups demanding that new tests be held to ensure the integrity of the examinations and the profession.

The scandal resulted in the resignation of George Cordero from his post as Philippine Nurses Association president following allegations that he leaked the exam questions mostly to examinees from two review centers, including one that he owns, and a school that he also runs. Cordero denied any wrongdoing.

The scandal set back the Philippines’ bid to establish a testing center here for Filipino nurses eyeing jobs in the United States, according to the Commission on Filipinos Overseas.

Commission chairman Dante Ang said the US National Council of State Boards of Nursing has indefinitely put on hold the evaluation of the Philippines’ application.