DAGUPAN CITY—Dr. Gonzalo Duque, president of  the Lyceum Northwestern  University, has told the 2006 nursing board passers that they don’t have to worry about the examination retake if   they don’t plan to seek employment in the United States.

Duque, who was the guest speaker at the ‘Kapihan sa Patrima’ on Thursday held at the Magic Club, said the passers’ licenses remain valid and only those who want to work in the U.S. need to retake as the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) has standing orders not to accept Filipino nurses who passed the cheating-marred 2006 Board Examination for Nurses.

He said those who are really keen on working abroad, where the pay is incomparable to the measly compensation offered by local employment, have other options in Canada, England, Japan and the Middle East.

Earlier, a group of Philippine officials failed to convince the CGFNS to reconsider its decision banning the 2006 board examination passers.

Meanwhile, the other guest speaker during the weekly event, Dr. Ofelia Rayos, vice president for academics of the University of Pangasinan, said they will not withdraw their record that their school produced the country’s top board examinee in the person of Gringo Sandiego of barangay Amansabina, Mangaldan.–APE