A Regional Trial Court judge in Iloilo yesterday ordered the Professional Regulation Commission and the Board of Nursing to place the board examination papers and answer sheets of 146 West Negros College nursing graduates under court custody.

Iloilo RTC Branch 22 Judge Guiljie Delfin-Lim was acting on a motion filed by the nursing graduates who have a pending civil case for mandamus versus PRC and BON seeking the release of their December nursing board examination results.

The Iloilo sheriff is set to go to Manila today to get the test papers and answer sheets from the PRC office, Nelia Gonzales, lawyer for the WNC nursing graduates, and also one of the petitioners, said.

The judge also directed the PRC and BON to furnish the petitioners with a certified copy of the report of PRC Regional Director Lily Ann Baldago that recommended the withholding of the results of the examination of the petitioners.

Meanwhile, WNC graduate Johnny Albarico and 45 others have also filed a petition for a writ of mandamus against PRC and BON before the Court of Appeals to compel them to release their examination results.

A writ of mandamus or simply mandamus, which means "we order" in Latin, is a court order directing someone, most frequently a government official, to perform a specified act.

Another petition for mandamus filed by 127 other WNC nursing graduates is also pending before the sala of Bacolod RTC Judge Philadelfa Agraviador, lawyer Leon Moya said. The court is awaiting the reply of the PRC and Bon to the petition, he added.

Capiz Rep. Predenil Castro, in a privilege speech before Congress yesterday, scored Baldago for withholding the board examination results of the WNC graduates.

"It is truly lamentable to realize how the PRC, the Board of Nursing and even the CHED become powerless as they all crouch before the vagaries of Lily Ann Baldago," he said.

The PRC and the BON promised to expeditiously investigate the matter involving the withholding of the examination results of the 567 graduates of the West Negros College, as well as the alleged "academic overloading", but until now no results have been presented, he said.

"In the meantime, the 567 poor and unfortunate nursing graduates of West Negros College remain clueless as to their future while their and their families' lives are suspended and continue to hang on the air of uncertainly," he added.

Among the 567 graduates, one comes from Aklan, 3 from Antique, 4 from Bohol, 8 from Capiz, 35 from Cebu, 28 from Dumaguete, 122 from Iloilo, 320 from Negros Occidental, and one from Southern Leyte, he said.

Castro called on Congress to investigate the case of the WNC nursing graduates.

He also urged the House to scrutinize "with its eagle eye", the budget of the PRC, the BON and the Commission on Higher Education.*CPG

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