Why It's More Fun in PRC

There’s no turning back. That’s what I realized after receiving my Notice for Admission (NOA) for the Nurse Licensure Exam on June 30 and July 1. The entire process of application went around 3 hours, which was faster than I expected (I was assuming that most government offices have slow processing time) This was also contrary to the rumor that when you arrive at 6am, you finish application at 6pm.

I arrived around 6:30am at the PRC and met with some schoolmates. I got some of the requirements photocopied from the shops in front of PRC where they charged 2 pesos per page! Over sa mahal! The line was really long, around half a thousand people infront and countless others behind us. The place was looming with vendors, who seemed to be too well concerned with the applicants. They advertise themselves as one stop shops who sell almost about anything you’ll need in your application. Ballpens. Paste. Long brown envelopes. Cedulas. Metered stamps. Pati katauhan mo pwede mo na rin yatang bilin dun.

Unfortunately and stupidly, my classmates and I became one of their customers. We got into buying their fake metered stamps and envelopes which cost around 35 and 20 pesos a piece. Later on, we got to know that the official ones have signatures in blue ink in them. They were sold inside the PRC building for just 22 pesos! Tengene.

I can’t believe that some people can live with such conscience, earning their keep from fooling people. But what’s more unbelievable is the fact that the PRC doesn’t seem to be doing anything about it. There were no signages outside their building that went like “Wag bumili sa mga tao sa labas” or “Bumili lamang ng metered stamps sa loob ng PRC”. We reported the incident to the one who sold the official metered stamps inside the building, he said “Ganyan talaga, maraming manloloko diyan sa labas”. This means that the administration of PRC is very aware of this trade yet they choose to be apathetic about it. Nagbubulagbulagan ba. Even the guards, who are supposed to be in charge of the security of the office and its applicants, don’t even warn the applicants about the practice of these illegal vendors.  Does their job description limit only to fixing the applicants’ lines and checking our bags as we enter their premises? If fixers are being taxed with monetary penalty and jail time of God-knows-how-long, why can’t these illegal vendors be charged with the same weight?

Like an old Filipino saying goes, “Walang manloloko kung walang magpapaloko”, so I guess we were also to blame for that incident. Pero wala rin naman maloloko at manloloko kung walang pumapayag na may manloko, tama diba?