This came as close to 4,000 Filipino nurses have applied to take the US National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) which was being held in Manila for the first time. Presidential task force on NCLEX chief Dante Ang said that a total of 3,500 Filipino nurses have registered to take the US licensure examination. NCLEX examination will be held daily from Monday to Friday up to December, Ang disclosed.

Lacson said the 26 nurses were lured by Sentosa in 2004 and 2005 by representing itself as a direct-hire agency catering to nursing facilities in New York, offering competitive salaries of up to $35 an hour, medical coverage, relocation and housing allowances, free malpractice insurance, free airfare from Manila to New York and generous night differentials.

“But when the nurse-recruits arrived in New York, Sentosa not only reneged on its commitments but also turned them over to Sentosa Care LLC and to Prompt Nursing Employment Agency/Sentosa Services, in clear violation of the contract," Lacson said.

The Senate probe will also look into the alleged interference by Malaca±ang in the case filed by the 26 nurses against Sentosa whose license was suspended by the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency on May 24 last year.

Upon the prodding of Sentosa, Sen. Charles Schumer (Democrat-NY) wrote a letter to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo last year to look into the brewing court battle with the Filipino nurses and to meet with officials of the recruitment agency.

The President tapped then Presidential Chief of Staff Michael Defensor to meet with the Sentosa officials and the POEA which lifted the suspension order after just two weeks.

Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. accused Defensor of being Sentosa’s man but the latter denied that the government was interfering in the case and he was merely following up on the status of the case.

“Philippine government agencies showed their indifference in protecting the rights of Filipino health professionals abroad by not acting on the violations," Lacson said.

Ang said 90 Filipino nurses will be among the first batch of NCLEX examinees, a majority of them from Metro Manila. Nurses from neighboring countries have yet to express their intention to take the examination here, said Ang. Ang added that extending the NCLEX to other areas in the country would depend on the number of examinees.

In Cebu city, meanwhile, Dr. Henry Seno, said the decline in the demand for Filipino nurses abroad is caused more by a change in the working attitude of the latest batch of nursing professionals rather than the board exam cheating controversy.

“Nurses in the Philippines now are no longer of the same quality as the nurses five to 10 years back," said Dr. Seno, president of the American Dream Review Institute Inc. (Amdream).

He said 40 percent of Filipino nurses in the United States, despite receiving an average salary of $8,000 to $10,000 a month, “do not show up for work."

“They literally do not report to the hospitals, especially those with immigrant status. Those who report act as if they are not there because they’re busy doing other things," he said in a press conference recently at the Casino Espanol de Cebu.

While there are “hardworking” nurses, many of them lack the hands-on experience and a good grasp of educational background which should have been provided by the academe, he said.

“There are more nursing schools now and so many nursing graduates. They (schools) have become mere diploma mills," said Seno.

This negative scenario has caused hospitals and clinics in the United States to recruit more nurses from India, Korea and China, he said.

Job fairs conducted by foreign hospitals and recruitment agencies were common in the last three years but due to the deteriorating quality of nurses today, US hospitals have become apprehensive in their choice of nursing imports, he said.