seeing too sexy and revealing for the oath-taking for new pharmacists in central Philippines prompted PRC official to cancel the ceremony, according to a report published by The Daily Guardian.
The Daily Guardian said Lily Ann Baldago, regional director of the Professional Regulation Commission stormed out of the ceremony for pharmacy board graduates after she noticed that some graduates being sworn in were wearing clothes she described as “scandalous”.
“I don’t regret my actions. They refused to follow the prescribed dress code,” Baldago was quoted in the report as saying.
“They were dressed [in skirts] five to six inches above the knee…We had similar cases in the past, but this is the first time that the students were really in a ‘gross’ outfit,” she was quoted to have remarked.
The ceremonies were to take place at the University of San Agustin in Iloilo City, an institution run by the Augustinian religious order.
Baldago made it clear that the group may request for another schedule for the oath taking, provided that the new board passers stick to the dress code as befitting the special occasion.
“If they want, they can always ask for another schedule for a new ceremony,” Baldago said.
Baldago said there was no point in conducting the oath taking affair when some of the almost 70 pharmacists refused to give dignity to the occasion.
“It’s my responsibility to implement the protocol of PRC. I have been authorized.”
She said PRC gave specific instructions to the organizers as regards the dress code.
“In other oath-taking ceremonies, even Filipiniana attire is required,” Baldago added.
Reports said that the parents and students might file a formal complaint against Baldago with the PRC main office in Manila.
Baldago said she is prepared to justify her actions.
“We’re used to receiving complaints everyday and it is not very difficult to explain my side. What I did was just to implement the proper rules and regulations especially the dress code,” she said.
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