Cynthia Villar says 'sorry' to nurses

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).

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

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Breaking News: Cynthia Villar apologizes to nurses.

During an election-related TV program, Pagsubok ng mga Kandidato, Professor Winnie Monsod criticized her about her inaction, during her term as head of Committee on Education in Congress, on the closure of highly inefficient (low or no passing rate) nursing schools so as to save the nurses from future unemployment debacles. This was actually a shock since there was little news about such decisions being made.

The question was, "can you reconcile itong seeming disconnect  between your desire to help the poor at pagpanig niyo sa mga may-ari ng educational institution na gustong isara ng Technical Nursing Committee at ng CHED?"

Due to the lack of time, she failed to appropriately answer the question, and ended up saying she suggested to close or eliminate pre-nursing subjects in the syllabus regardless of the nursing school's performance, since "nakapag-invest na" ang schools prior the plan for closure. Yet, to date, no nursing school has been closed because of laggard performance.

Video Courtesy: Youtube channel GMA News

Prof. Monsod asked another follow-up question, this time pointing to the continuous unemployment of nurses, "bakit po hindi sila ma-employ-employ at bakit po nag-resign ang Technical Nursing Education Committee at tsaka nag-resign after 7 months in office? Do you they just did not understand?"

And she answered that the resignation of "Father" was due to "personal quarrel with an owner of a school". 

What surprised everyone was when she said, "actually hindi naman kailangan ang nurse ay matapos nung BSN, kasi itong ating mga nurses gusto lang nila maging room nurse or sa America or sa other countries, eh ano lang sila, yung parang mag-aalaga; hindi naman sila kailangang ganun kagaling, kasi sa ibang countries..." The timer stopped and her mic was muted.

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Opinion:

To Congresswoman Cynthia Villar, you just hit them (nurses) where it hurts. It only shows how narrow your level of thinking is, with regards to recognizing professions that help serve people who need medical help, especially the poor. Don't you think nurses need to be competent in their field so as to provide medical assistance to the needy? We're dealing with lives here!!

Huwag niyo po sanang ni-lalang ang mga nurses; being a nurse takes a lifetime of service. It seems like you're going the wrong direction, Madam Hanepbuhay.

To all eligible voters out there, if you want to educate other people, please share this on your Facebook walls.