by Rey Anthony Chiu

Tagbilaran City (10 October) -- STANDING as one against the government decision for a retake in the controversial nursing examinations leak, Boholanos Against Retake of Nursing Examinations (BAROG) comes up with a symbolic march to enlighten government officials to spare the regions where the leakage did not happen.

By enlighten, the examinees, parents and relatives, school administrators and faculty lit candles and marched in prayer Tuesday, October 10 to dramatize what they termed as unjust: punishing the innocent with the guilty.

Barog, a group convened by medics and regulars examinees, parents, academicians, deans and the presidents of two leading schools offering nursing courses have said: No to retake.

We do not want to go through the crucible of agony for acts we did not commit, the group’s united position stated.

The groups’ paid ad was signed by Mary Ann Ruiz, MD, RN of the medics examinees, Michael Ryan Tago RN, for Holy Name University (HNU) regular examinees, Van Phillip Baton, RN for University of Bohol (UB) regular examinees.

Also there was Raymund Paul Logarta for the Parents, Francisca Baluyot for the local chapter of the Philippine Nurses Association, HNU VP for Academics Fr Romeo Bancale, SVD, HNU president Rev. Fr. Ernesto Lagura SVD, UB president Atty. David Tirol, HNU College of Nursing dean Isabelita Margate and UB Nursing dean Elizabeth Floresca.

That same day is also a crucial day when the Cabinet met to decide on the retake after President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has asked the National Bureau of Investigation to pore into the leakage issue.

The group, composed of at least 251 Boholano June 2006 nursing examination passers and their supporters caused a paid ad in a local paper Sunday condemning the reported leakages smearing the conduct of this year’s examinations.

“True, there were leakages. But these were not widespread enough to affect the integrity of the whole exams,” their statement reads.

The group argued that the leakage was confined to only two subjects spread by two review centers in two of the ten testing sites nationwide.

“There were no upward pull in the two subjects, no clustering of scores, no remarkable rise in performance of regional examination sites,” the Barog paid advertisement stated.

“And what about the majority of the passers who did not cheat and passed the exams the old honest, fair and hard way? Will they now be punished with a retake and offered as sacrificial lambs in the altar of a restored false integrity?” Barog asks.