Looking on the Brighter Side of Bad Publicity

Yeah! I know I still owe you a post regarding EDSA, but that'll come in this site sometime...  ^^

For now, here's what I got.

It has been more than over two weeks now since the whole of the Filipino people witnessed former Congresswoman Cynthia Villar, a senatorial candidate of the Liberal Party in a Senatorial Forum entitled Pagsubok ng mga Kandidato on GMANewsTV.

I need not mention about the issue and what she have responded to the questions posed by Mareng Winnie Monsod as I have a post regarding that one. You may want to click on this link just in case if you've been on the moon, and haven't read it.

While it may be true that we, nurses, were put into a bad light because of Mrs. Villar's untimely (the issue at hand was way way back 2005, when she was a Representative of Las Piñas), time-constrained (a minute and a half for such complicated issue),  and oblivious (ignorance of the profession, I should say) responses, it is also rightful to say that there is still something "GOOD" in all that have happened.

It is not an undeniable fact that nurses nowadays comprise the vast majority of the local health care system. Likewise, it is spot on that the power of social media networks is indeed a force to be reckoned with. 

Truly, we have utilized this powerful tool to air our grievances and inform the public, including Mrs. Villar herself, that we will UNITE and STAND UP to uphold our very own noble profession.

Her Side of the Story

I was among the lucky ones to be given the chance to meet Mrs. Villar and finally hear her side of the story.

The Philippine Health Bloggers Society with Sen. Manny Villar and Mrs. Cynthia Villar

It was on March 8th, after the grueling public consultations on the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Reproductive Health and Responsible Parenthood Act of 2012 (RA 10354), when I, together with the members of the Philippine Health Bloggers Society met Mrs. Cynthia Villar at the Legend HongKong Seafood Restaurant.

After a casual meet-and-greet, the group immediately went down into business. We asked her to further elaborate on things she said on national TV.

"HINDI NAMAN KAILANGAN ANG NURSE AY MATAPOS NG BSN, kasi itong ating mga nurses, GUSTO LANG NILA MAGING "ROOM NURSE." Sa America or sa other countries, ano lang sila, YUNG PARANG MANG-AALAGA. HINDI NAMAN SILA KAILANGAN GANOON KAGALING"

Mrs. Villar, then being the Chair of the House Committee on Higher and Technical Education, pushes for a ladderized program in the BSN Curriculum. However, most of the senior nurses or the more experienced ones were not in favor of this move, stating that the Philippines is among the few countries with BSN as an entry program to the nursing profession.

In the public statement released by the Philippine Nurses Association, it stated that:

"The BSN Program is a competency-based curriculum and the Philippines can boast of being one of the few countries where BSN is the entry level of nursing practice."

The infamous "Room Nurse", according to Mrs. Villar is in reference to someone who would not be able the degree. She went on saying that "hindi naman sila kailangan ganoon kagaling", would be comparing the competencies of a BSN undergraduate to that of a competent registered nurse.

With this being said, light has been shed among us bloggers, who are all registered nurses, who were also hurt by Mrs. Villar's out-of-context remarks, who were also among the many who stood up for the profession. 

The Ballots will Speak

Image courtesy of http://halalan2013.abs-cbnnews.com

Now that we have heard her side, forgiveness may have been given. 

But then again, others may still choose to continue with the satires, Facebook statuses, Twitter tweets, memes and other means of black propaganda against the person.

Yet again, the decision of including her on the list of 12 senatorial candidates, shading #32 on our ballots this coming May 2013 elections would still depend on US! 

Now, if I may ask, what "good" did you see in this bad light?

Disclaimer: Yes, I am included among those very few who got the chance to meet Mrs. Cynthia Villar together with my co-PHBS members. I am not in any way paid, forced, coerced to write this and this post is written in my own accord.