Liberal Party senatorial candidate Cynthia Villar has apologized to nurses for her highly criticized statement on national TV during a senatorial debate on GMA New TV's "Pagsubok ng mga Kandidato" two weeks ago.
For what she said, she had written a letter of apology to the Philippine Nurses Association (PNA).
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| Photo Courtesy: LP website |
“I truly am sorry for having offended the feelings of your members. It was never my intention to belittle anyone, least of all, the valiant members of the nursing profession," she said.
Villar explained Monday that "lack of time and the complexity of the issue" regarding a closure order issued by the CHED years ago hindered her from answering the question "in a clear and concise manner."
“Mahirap po talagang pagkasyahin sa loob ng isang minuto at kalahati ang lahat ng gusto kong sabihin tungkol sa mga naging problema ng mga mag-aaral ng nursing noon at hanggang ngayon. Napakalaki ng aking paghanga sa mga nars, saan man sila naglilingkod kaya’t nalulungkot ako dahil nagkulang ang aking pagpapaliwanag," she said.
Aside from that, she was unable to complete her answer because the time limit for the first answer and the thirty seconds allotted for a follow-up reply "quickly lapsed."
“What I was trying to say during that media forum was that nursing students affected by a CHED closure order several years ago deserved concrete and better career and academic options other than just an abrupt closure of the institutions that they were currently enrolled in,” she said.
During that time, she was part of a legislative oversight committee that "had to intervene" to ensure that the welfare and rights of nursing students, their parents, and teachers were provided "sufficient thought and consideration" by CHED and the school owners.
To know what happened and why representative Cynthia Villar caused public outrage on the issue of nurses, read here.
-with reports from Kimerly K Tan of GMA News
