THE Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) is now monitoring documents submitted to its Baguio City office following discovery of forged signatures in the Nursing Licensure Examination (NLE).
PRC Regional Director Teofilo Sison said the number of forgeries and falsification of documents in present and past years will be dealt with accordingly.
He said last week, operatives of Baguio City Police Office Station 7 arrested an alleged forger, Renato Borbon, who is operating along Upper Mabini Street, faking the signatures of a Baguio General Hospital clinical nurse on the summary of cases of applicants for NLE.
Borbon was arrested in an entrapment operation set last April 16 by police operatives led SPO2 Jesse dela Cruz, SPO2 Ronaldo Trinidad and SPO1 Synzer Kapawen upon the complaint of the PRC and Philippine Nurses Association (PNA)-Cordillera Regional Council.
The suspect was caught receiving P50 after faking the signature of Elena Tampican, chief nurse of Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center.
Police also confiscated from Borbon various fake documents, including diplomas, transcripts of records, various certificates and different writing pens.
Supervising Professional Regulations Officer Marilyn Vergara said a number of students had lined up for Borbon's services, prompting a professional nurse to report the matter to the PRC Baguio Regional Office.
The tipster said Borbon was faking the signatures of chief nurses who were supposed to sign the summary of cases, which is a record of cases a nursing student has completed in order to qualify for the NLE.
Sison said a forgery case was already filed against Borbon on the same date before the City Prosecutor's Office.
With the apprehension, the PRC sternly warned NLE applicants against submitting forged documents, saying the authenticity of all documents submitted by every applicant is checked, including verification with schools and hospitals, and handwriting or signature comparison with specimen signatures.
"Applicants who have submitted fraudulent signature discovered, through the help of forgery experts of the National Bureau of Investigation, are barred from taking the nursing examination for life or any licensure examinations through the PRC," Sison warned.
If they had already passed the examination, their test papers would be cancelled. If they had already registered as a professional, their certificate of registration or license would be revoked and the professional identification cards recalled, Sison added.
Last year, around 10 students, who submitted fake summary of cases, were disqualified from taking the examinations and charged with falsification of public documents.
"They forged the signatures of various clinical instructors, clinical coordinators, nursing deans, and chief nurses," Vergara said.
He added that the PRC, PNA and police authorities are monitoring such illegal activities in an effort to uphold the integrity of the NLE with more than 12,000 applicants expected for the July 2010 examinations.
PRC-Cordillera is urging those who know someone doing the illegal activity to report to PRC Baguio Regional Office at (074) 444-7603, 304-3080 and 304-3180, or through e-mail: prc.baguio@gmail.com. (With Rimaliza Opiña)