Close to a hundred midwifery licensure examinees from Northern and Central Luzon hoped they would be able to take the examinations after spending tens of thousands of pesos for the review. Unfortunately, they would have to wait several months more because the review center’s agentrs, who collected their examinations fees promising to remit these to the PRC, ran away with their money.

BY ACE ALEGRE
Contributed to Bulatlat
Vol. VIII, No 13, May 4-10, 2008

BAGUIO CITY (246 kms north of Manila) – At least 95 midwifery graduates from different universities and colleges all over Northern and Central Luzon provinces hoped for the best on the April 29-30 midwifery licensure examinations conducted by the Professional Regulations Commission (PRC).

Some even recalled that their families sold their own farm animals back home in their provinces just for their P20,000 ($472.37 at the May 2 exchange rate of $1P:42.34)-worth review at the Northcap Review Center in Baguio City.

But such went to waste. Their dreams of taking the examinations this early were shattered.

All these midwife hopefuls have to wait until next PRC-held examinations on November because someone from the review center “ran away” with their money.

Almost crying in desperation, 19-year-old University of Northern Philippines (UNP) graduate Jeffrey Alnas from Sta. Cruz, Ilocos Sur said they are suing Northcap for the “injustice” they have suffered.

Entering in droves the City Hall office of Coun. Richard Cariño, a lawyer, these 95 victims want Northcap to dearly pay for what happened to them. Piles and piles of handwritten accounts of their ordeals are now being studied by Cariño’s office in preparation for the lodging of a criminal and civil suit..

Speaking in behalf of his irked co-reviewees, Alnas said each of them paid a Northcap “agent” P800 ($18.89), more than the regular PRC-mandated fee of only P600 ($14.17).

All they knew was that the said “agent” of the review center remitted their payments to the PRC. But when examination day came none of them could take their examinations.

Their dreams of being early takers crumbled to the ground.

Northcap, which is again in the thick of reviewing thousands of nursing graduates from all over the Philippines for the June Nursing board, has offered each of the victims a P3,300 ($70.85) “goodwill” amount to reimburse their lodging fees for two months and the PRC fee of P800 (including notorial fee), said Imelda Jadormio speaking in behalf of Northcap. “This is our way of showing goodwill, that we did not mean anything bad to them,” she said.

She admitted that the supposed Northcap agent who collected from the reviewees was a certain Aleta Vivian Lazaro, their administrative officer, but explained that the review center never authorized the former to collect fees for the PRC. “She misrepresented us,“ she insisted.

Lazaro, who has ran away from Northcap when her “racket” was uncovered last week, is now facing charges together with her cohort, a certain Daisy Birwan. The complaint was lodged by the review center.

Some victims earlier agreed on during a meeting last week, added Jadormio. But “outside forces,” she hints, are pushing most for them to get more from the company.

Alnas and his group, for their part, want to pursue a suit against Northcap “to teach them a good lesson so that no such thing will ever happen again.”

Alnas added that this has happened not only to midwifery licensure takers but also to some nursing licensure examinees.

Jadormio admitted that some 1,067 nursing reviewees in Baguio City for the June board exams were also duped by Lazaro and her cohort. The duo reportedly got P1,150 ($27.16) each from the nursing hopefuls, but when they verified at the PRC, they found that they also cannot take the June licensure tests because they missed the April 18 deadline for paying the application fees.

“We have made representations with the PRC for them to accommodate our reviewees,” Jadormio said. She said though that it seems PRC is strict on its deadline. Contributed to (Bulatlat.com)

 Save as PDF