Why the Senate needs Miriam

A news headline from a national daily yesterday said that the Palace has clammed up on the controversial nursing board examination issue. One can't blame them for keeping away from the case now. Everytime Malacañang sounds as if it is in favor of having a retake of the questionable tests, the examinees or their supporters would shoot back that there should also be a retake of the 2004 elections.

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That is why the safest thing to do is to have the Labor secretary be the one to face the music, and make the distasteful decision if need be. At the moment, there is still the wait for the results of the National Bureau of Investigation probe that is stalling the decision. Then, perhaps, it will be the Court of Appeals resolution that will have to be awaited, which means more time for holding off the dirty job.

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In the meantime, the Professional Regulatory Commission has also released the results of the Teachers Examination. The figures show that only about a third of the examinees made it, both in the examination for high school and elementary teachers. Does this prove that there was no leakage here? The topnotchers, although mostly coming from Manila schools, also included some from the Visayas and Mindanao. The percentages do not indicate any monkey business, but who can tell? The leak in the nurses' test questions was not discovered until later.

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Anyway, the number of passers in the Teachers examination was encouraging. 17,377 made it to qualify for elementary education, while 17,290 passed the tests for high school teachers. That is good news as far as the lack of teachers in our schools are concerned, but if there aren't as many vacancies for them, we might see more jobless graduates or professionals who will go abroad and become housemaids. Let's hope this does not happen, and wish the new teachers good luck.

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What really was the reason behind the killing of Bishop Alberto Ramento of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente? The police has declared that it has solved the case and that it was a simple one of plain robbery and homicide. They even have arrested suspects and presented them, but Ramento's parishioners and fellow religious of the IFI are not ready to accept that. They claim that Ramento had received threats on his life for being an activist churchman, and had also been critical of the administration. What appears to be backing their claims is the report that several other priests of the IFI have themselves received threats and, in fact, their group has identified which ones are the most likely to suffer the same fate as Ramento. In this case, we hope the police will not dismiss the apprehensions of the IFI members. After all, their suspects have not been convicted, or charged yet.

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It is good to hear that the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has announced that it is minting P839 million in coins to be released in 2007. I can't understand why the amount is in odd figures, but, well, the bankers must have a reason. Anyway, the release will fill a need, because there seems to be a lack of coins in circulation these days. In one of the big department stores in the city, customers often get into arguments with cashiers who are perceived to be short-changing them by not giving the correct amount. Or, in many cases, they ask the customer for the coins, saying they don't have them.

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E tu MELO! I hear that the Melo Commission created by the President to probe what is now known as extra-judicial killings, for which the country has gained so much notoriety, has announced that it is going to travel to several places in the country while investigating the cases brought before them. Well, that seems to be what they call pro forma for specially created bodies. They usually begin by going around first, not to go sightseeing at government expense, of course, but to get a wider perspective of their job. At least, we hope so.

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Even in sickness, Senator Miriam Santiago has not lost her ability to say things in the most dramatic way. Describing her health condition recently, she said that she feels as if she is "going, going and will soon be gone …" But she remains realistic, and says frankly that what she is suffering from is "not just medical but also attitudinal". Nobody can beat her, we must admit. That's why we hope she gets well - it will not be the same without her in the Senate - if it continues to exist, that is.*

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