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The
militant groups that have borne the brunt of
extrajudicial killings have called the visit of UN
Special Rapporteur Philip Alston an exercise in futility
because not even his presence here has stopped the death
squads from committing more murder and mayhem.
Since
Alston arrived in the country 10 days ago, three more
members of militant groups have been killed under
mysterious circumstances. And just the other day,
another journalist was shot dead in Sultan Kudarat in
Mindanao, the first to die this year and the 50th
fatality since Mrs. Arroyo came to power in 2001.
But I
think the militants’ view may be too premature, if not
misplaced. In his press conference yesterday, Alston
called on the Arroyo government to acknowledge that
indeed extrajudicial killings are going on, and for Mrs.
Arroyo, the secretary of National Defense and, most
especially, the AFP chief of staff to make a categorical
stand against the killings. In addition, Alston also
urged that the government make public the results of the
probe conducted by the Melo Commission.
Given
the temper of the times—the ruling party wants to pile
up political points during a crucial election
campaign—the government just might say it has nothing to
hide and accede to all of Alston’s recommendations. And
if it does, it would represent a clear victory for human
rights advocates, and mark the beginning of the end of
the rash of political killings.
What
we’ve been told about the findings of the Melo
Commission has been very sketchy. News reports quote a
bishop-member of the fact-finding body as saying that
the killings can be attributed to the military, the
leftist movement and goons of political warlords. But
former Supreme Court Justice Jose Melo, chairman of the
commission, has been quoted by Time magazine as saying
that most of the killings could be laid on the door of
the military. This has forced the AFP to say that it has
investigated six soldiers linked to some murders in
Bicol, though the military leadership had stoutly denied
any hand in the killings in the past.
My guess
is that when Alston goes back to the UN, he would write
a report that would mince no words about the culpability
of the government for the killings. Let us not forget
that the UN Declaration of Human Rights binds
member-states, and the Philippine government ratified
the document.
Whether
the killings are the handiwork of the AFP, as claimed by
militant groups, or by the NPA, as claimed by the
military, the fact remains that the government has been
unable to uphold the rule of law and protect human
rights. The mounting toll from the spate of political
killings since 2001 indicates a breakdown of law and
order for which the Arroyo government must assume full
responsibility.
No
closure yet to nursing exam issue
The
latest news is that nursing groups in the country have
formed a task force that would appeal the decision of
the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools,
or CGFNS, to deny Visa Screen Certificates to those who
passed last year’s Nursing Licensure Exams. The Visa
Screen Certificate, it turns out, is a requirement for
foreign nurses who wish to work in the US. This means
that the 17,000 out of the 42,000 nursing graduates who
passed the exams last year will have to retake the
questioned portions of the exam if they expect to be
able to work in the US.
Among
the passers is a niece of mine who’s already 41 and gave
up her job in a financially distressed preneed-plan
company to study nursing even as she raised two kids.
Her husband, who’s about her age and finished law
studies but was unable to hurdle the bar exams the first
time, is also studying nursing.
My niece
had wanted to go to California last month on a tourist
visa just to be able to take an exam—I think it’s the
NCLEX, or whatever—but was prevailed upon to wait until
her husband finishes nursing and they can both leave for
the US at the same time with their kids. She’s the last
one in her immediate family still in the country; her
parents, a sister and two brothers are already in the
US.
My
niece’s—and her husband’s—singleminded determination to
make it to the US and work there as nurses earning a
minimum of $5,000 a month reflects the mindset of the
thousands upon thousands of nursing graduates who take
the exams every year. Though only 17,000 made the grade
last year, I suppose everyone of them would be willing
to retake the tainted portion of the exam, if only to
make their dreams come true. The CGFNS decision will
understandably cause a lot of dismay among the 2006
passers; however, they will have to go through the whole
rigmarole of retaking the exams just so they can leave
the country and work in the
US.
Which,
of course, is what’s unfortunate, because it is our
health care system that’s going to suffer in the long
run if almost all the nurses leave and even doctors are
willing to slide down to becoming nurses just to be able
to enter the US as immigrants.
It seems
that the departure in increasing numbers not only of
nurses, but also of other professionals, as well as
skilled and unskilled workers, is a clear manifestation
of the sense of helplessness and resignation that many
Filipinos feel about their country at this point. Who
can blame them for wanting to leave, given the state of
affairs here? |
