JEDDAH, 27 October — The foreign service official who is being faulted for causing disunity among Alpha Phi Omega alumni in Riyadh had reportedly tried but failed to become an honorary member of the fraternity.

Consul Gary S. Domingo, first secretary at the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh, applied as a member of the Manila-based group but this was turned down by the APO national convention early this year, said the APO Riyadh Alumni Association yesterday.

Leaders of APORAA, as the association is called, believe Domingo may have thought the association was responsible for the rejection of his application, which is why he abetted the formation of a breakaway group called APOCRUC (APO Central Region Unified Chapter).

Domingo, in his reaction published by Arab News yesterday, denied helping split the association. He said his only role was to issue a press release announcing APOCRUC’s formation and the induction of its officers.

APORAA would have none of Domingo’s explanation.

“When a consul, or any government official for that matter, joins a breakaway group and be asked as an honorary adviser and a spokesman even if he is not an APO member, he is said to have broken his pledge morally,” said an APORAA statement issued by its president, Dr. Raymond Alipit.

“He (Domingo) has elected to abandon his moral senses. He is undoubtedly a divider, not a reconciler. No amount of explanation can rectify his position unbecoming of a diplomat and peacemaker,” said the statement.

APORAA leaders said if Domingo is true to his claim of being neutral, he should have used “moral persuasion” on Virgilio “Boggs” Bolor not to form another group because of its divisive effect.

Bolor’s action, they said, was unbecoming of a leader considering that he was a former president of the association.

Domingo, they said, could not feign ignorance about this detail because he and Bolor are “buddy-buddy” of close friends.

Sources at the embassy say Bolor is a “sidekick” of Domingo and that they are boardmates. Arab News could not immediately get the consul’s comment.

The APORAA statement said it was during Bolor’s presidency in the association in 1998 when Domingo’s application as an honorary APO member was first forwarded to the APO National Council.

The application got stalled when Bolor suddenly left for the Philippines.

Coming back a year later, Bolor again pushed for Domingo’s application but this was turned down by the convention held in Subic on grounds that it did not conform to the fraternity’s policies and procedures regarding the processing of honorary memberships.

The application was reportedly referred to a local APO collegiate chapter as embodied by the constitution and bylaws and not by any alumni group.

APO is probably the biggest collegiate International Service Fraternity/Sorority in the Philippines, with chapters in various universities and colleges.

Even then, APORAA continued to invite the consul to speak in their official functions, said the association’s statement.

It said, however, that Domingo and Bolor drew outrage from APORAA members and other APO alumni abroad when the duo “sneaked” to Dubai on March 5 to attend an APO Alumni Council in the Middle East meeting,.

In that meeting, the duo reportedly claimed to represent the three alumni associations in Saudi Arabia and Bolor introduced Domingo as an honorary member of APO.

The APORAA statement said this was utter falsehood because the then current association president, Macky Badillo, denied sending the duo.

Why the CRUC?

It was reportedly during that Dubai meeting where Bolor raised the need to organize the ‘CRUC’ as a vehicle for their participation as a group duly recognized by Philippine Embassy in Riyadh in the council’s meeting next year.

APORAA said this alleged Domingo-Bolor plan is “nonsense” and “ wishful thinking” because APO will not allow it to happen.

On Domingo’s argument that CRUC is registered with the embassy while APORAA is not, the association said APO “does not need any paper recognition from any political institution as a prerequisite for service to the community and to the nation.”

APORAA, apart from being a duly recognized international service group by the APO National Council, “continues to be recognized through the many invaluable services rendered here and abroad.”

It said APORAA, formed 15 years ago, had actively participated in various humanitarian activities, such as the fund-raising campaigns for victims of the devastating earthquakes, typhoons and the eruption of Mt.Pinatubo in the Philippines, the Bantay Bata Program, the Hospicio de San Jose plus its medical and dental missions.

The association said the commendations it had received from the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh for its activities speaks louder than a paper recognition that Domingo was talking about.

The statement also pointed out that:

• Domingo has no right to visit the APO national headquarters and use his visit for his own interest as he is not even an honorary member of the group.

• He has no authority questioning the existence of the APO Ranao, APO Dharhan and Jubail. The Ranao group in Riyadh is not another association opposing APORAA but a friendly service group of Muslim brothers and sisters who are members of APO Ranao chapter in Marawi City and their purpose is to assist members at home. The two groups in Dhahran and Jubail are recognized and registered alumni associations like APORAA and the Western Region chapter.

• It is easy for Domingo to say “let’s just live and let live” because he hopes to benefit from the bitter division among fraternity brothers that he sought to create.

APORAA said if Domingo is sincere in his calling as a diplomat and peacemaker, the most that he could do at this point is to keep his hands off APO affairs.