MANILA—A total of 29,711 passed the Nurse Licensure examination given in Manila and 17 other cities in December 2010, the Professional Regulation Commission has announced.

The PRC said that these were out of the 84,287 nursing graduates who took the nursing board which pegged the December 2010 exam’s passing rate at 35.26 percent, lower than the 41.4-percent passing rate registered in the previous exam in July 2010.

Weanne Myrrh Estrada of the Adventist University of the Philippines topped the passers with a rating of 88.40.

Mary Grace Rallo of Central Luzon Doctors’ Hospital Educational Institution came second with 86.80 percent and followed by Maria Kristina Bicas of Saint Louis University with 86.60.

Tied at fourth place are Vanessa Elumbaring of Saint Mary’s College–Tagum and Kimberly Malubago of Southern Luzon State University–Lucban. While, coming in at fifth place is Jessa Lorraine Andalan of Xavier University.

Meanwhile, Saint Paul University once again topped the list of best performing schools with a 100-percent passing rate, followed by Xavier University (98.48), Saint Paul University–Tuguegarao (98.45), New Era University (98.04), and Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (97.45).

The Board of Nursing (BON) administered the exam in Manila, Baguio, Butuan, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Dagupan, Davao, Ilocos Sur, Iloilo, La Union, Legazpi, Lucena, Nueva Ecija, Pagadian, Pampanga, Tacloban, Tuguegarao, and Zamboanga.