.“Okay, before going further, can I check these diplomas cause I would just like to make sure that they’re not from some med school in the
Philippines.”
the uproar caused by this comment made by teri hatcher’s character in “desperate housewives” has not died down a bit though a formal apology has been issued by abc network. there are calls to boycott the show (here we go again), there are calls to boycott the show’s sponsors, lawmakers are even jumping on the issue for some media mileage. as I said, here we go again! what’s next? willie revillame crying on noontime tv deploring “desperate housewives”? ha ha.
this issue has been in the news for some two (three?) days and I have chosen not to
react to it, at first. but lately things have been getting out of hand in my opinion. the calls for boycotts, petitions, congress bills. hey, let’s stop this.
let me just say this: though I am not happy about the comment, i find nothing offensive about the alleged racist and disparaging remark. why? because there is some truth to it. so my question is, why not? rather than focusing on the comment itself, i would rather dig deeper and ask why such remarks or jokes were made.
before I get booed and petitioned myself, hear me out:
- it is a well-documented fact that diplomas and transcripts are a-dime-dozen in recto. I’ve never seen this personally but I have watched countless news reports and television documentaries on the subject. this has been going on for years. though countless raids and drives may have weakened this underground business temporarily in the past, it is still flourishing as we speak! just say the word “diploma” on the recto sidewalks and two to three fixers will be running to you, a friend remarked. and don’t even think that this is a national secret. in this age of global technology and communications, the whole world knows about this modus. I will not be surprised if some foreigners come to the country purposely to buy instant college degrees!
- the highly-publicized massive cheating issue in the nursing board exam last year eroded foreign confidence in our health care educational system. though the country’s nursing hierarchy has declared restored trust with the subsequent exam re-takes of the nurses in question, this is not a controversy that dies down easily. I’m sure many countries and institutions still have second thought about hiring Filipino nurses. who can blame them?. health care is about entrusting one’s life to a professional. but what if there are doubts? will you leave your life in the hands of someone you don’t trust?
- another documented fact: fueled by the high demand for workers overseas, health care schools are growing faster than the DECS and CHED can monitor. we have witnessed numerous medical, nursing and care-giver schools mushrooming all over the country. almost all private hospitals now have nursing and care-giving schools of their own, not to mention institutions named after this and that saint (st. claire, st. augustine, st. benedict, st. dominic, etc.). even institutions formerly dedicated to IT courses have branched out to nursing! the CHED had previously admitted having a hard time monitoring and regulating these schools, and the quality of health care education is deteriorating as a result..
- the cheating in the previous presidential election has damaged our country’s image and reputation more than we know and care. the mother of all rip-offs! need I say more?
for me, these are the real issues we have to address. these are the roots of the problem. boycotting “desperate housewives” will not solve these problems. blaming someone for making remarks based on valid opinions will not restore our tainted reputation. let's not get carried away with this issue. the bottom line is, our health care educational system is deteriorating and our country's reputation is in question. now, what do we do? do we sulk and call its critics unjust, or do we pinpoint the cause and do something about it?
. 
