Angelite Nurses

On line registration for the second batch of the Nurses Assigned in Rural Service (NARS) project is now on-going, said Labor and Employment 6 Director Aida Estabillo.

“We have started the online application this early to give unemployed nurses ample time to apply,” said Estabillo in a DOLE 6 press report.

Interested unemployed nurses may file their application on line at http//www.nars.dole.gov.ph or at the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Provincial Offices nearest them.

For the 2nd batch of the NARS program, DOLE 6 said some 480 unemployed nurses will be hired to be deployed in rural areas of the region that would start on October 1.

A total of 408 nurse-trainees were hired in the 1st batch of the program who are now deployed in the rural areas of the 6 provinces of the region until September 30, according to DOLE 6.

Of the 408 nurse-trainees hired, 72 were assigned in the province of Aklan, 42 in Antique, 55 in Capiz, 14 in Guimaras, 138 in Iloilo and 87 in Negros Occidental.

The NARS Project is in line with the pump-priming strategies of the government aimed at mitigating the effects of global economic slowdown through the creation of employment. This was launched by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo during the Multi-Sectoral Summit against Global Crisis held in Malacanang last February.

Under the program, the nurse-trainees will be deployed at an average of five per town in 96 identified poorest municipalities in the region and will be getting an allowance of P8,000 per month.

The NARS is a joint project of the DOLE, Department of Health, Professional Regulations Commission.

Recently, the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines (PHAP), the country’s largest pharmaceutical group composed of 50 Filipino and international research-based pharmaceutical firms, has agreed to sponsor the deployment of the 100 nurses in support of the President’s call to make the NARS project a national undertaking with private equity. - via (PIA)

The Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines (PHAP) today (Thursday) will present to the President a copy of their memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Department of Health (DOH), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC) on the deployment of an additional 100 nurses to beef up the 5,000 nurses already deployed to 20 other poor municipalities under the Nurses Assigned in Rural Service (NARS) project.

The signatories, who will present to the President a copy of the MOA, are Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, Labor Secretary Marianito Roque, PRC Commissioner Nicolas Lapena Jr., PHAP President Oscar Calderon and PHAP Executive Director Reiner Gloor.

PHAP, the country’s largest pharmaceutical group composed of 50 Filipino and international research-based pharmaceutical firms, has agreed to sponsor the deployment of the 100 nurses in support of the President’s call to make the NARS project a national undertaking with private equity.
The President said the NARS project would provide quality healthcare services in rural areas while giving unemployed registered nurses the opportunity to train and gain the necessary competencies needed for employment here and abroad.

Under the MOA, the PHAP agreed to shoulder the P8,000 monthly allowance of the 100 nurse-trainees who will be recruited under the NARS project.
PHAP, through its PHAP Cares Foundation, will also donate medicines, first aid kits and other items to DOH hospitals covered under the NARS project.
Under the NARS project, the first batch of 5,000 nurse-trainees was deployed last month on a six-month tour of duty to the 1,000 poorest municipalities.
Another batch of 5,000 nurses will be deployed to poor municipalities during the second half of this year. - via (PIA)

The Court of Appeals has ordered the conduct of a hearing against the head of the review center involved in the alleged rigging of the 2006 nursing licensure examinations.

George Cordero, president and owner of Inress Review Center, is facing a string of charges for allegedly leaking several questions in the June 2006 nursing exams.

In a 16-page decision, the CA’s Special 12th Division denied Cordero’s petition seeking to stop the Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC) from hearing the administrative complaint against him for lack of a verified complaint and a complainant. 

The CA said PRC’s Board of Nursing acted well within its jurisdiction and did not abuse its discretion when it proceeded with the hearing of the administrative complaint filed by chairperson Carmencita Abaquin. 

“In the administrative case, what are involved are the irregularities in the licensure examinations which marred the integrity of the Board and the examinations it administered and from the aforementioned provisions, the Board not only has adjudicatory powers but regulatory and investigatory powers as well for the public interest. Undoubtedly, the Board as the aggrieved party and acting in behalf of the public should be the proper complainant,” the Court said. 

Cordero was charged for violation of Section 15 of Republic Act 8981 (Professional Regulation Commission Modernization Act) and the Philippine Nursing Act of 2002.

The CA also junked Cordero’s claim that there must be a complainant first aside from the BoN before the Board could proceed with the hearing, saying the provision in the PRC rules “does not negate the right of the Board by itself to initiate the administrative case, after a prima facie finding, by filing a formal charge and in effect, be the complainant.” 

It added that in administrative proceedings, the technical rules of procedure and evidence are not strictly applied. - via GMANews.TV