JEDDAH, 1 November — Officials of the International Philippine School in Jeddah (IPSJ) yesterday urged parents to ignore the group claiming to be the “new” trustees of the school.
“We ask all the parents to stay calm and be vigilant and wait for further pronouncements from the (Saudi) Ministry of Education,” the Board of Trustees (BOT) said in a statement sent to Arab News.
It said the group had never been elected and their being sworn in by Consul General Kadatuan P. Usop does not in any way legitimize their attempt to seize power.
“If it is true that Consul General Kadatuan Usop signed their oath of office, then the consul general has to explain his act why he signed the oath of office of self-appointed alleged officers who are not elected by the parents. He knows that the supervision of Foreign Schools is now under the Ministry of Education.
Usop administered the oath to the group, with Parent-Teachers Council (PTC) president Fidel Hernandez as the chairman.
In an interview with Arab News on Wednesday, Hernandez and his group said they were serving notice to all concerned that they were taking charge of the school.
They said BOT chairman Efren Rodriguez and his team should step down because they have overstayed their term. Besides, the group said, the Rodriguez BOT was ousted in an assembly of parents on Oct. 11.
In a letter dated Oct. 30 addressed to Mr. Abdullah Bin Mohammad Al-Howaimel, general director of education in the Makkah Region, the “new BOT” asked for help in effecting the turnover of power in the school. The letter informed that the “new BOT” got its mandate from a Parents General Assembly on Oct. 11, an that they were subsequently recognized as such at the Philippine Consulate on Oct. 29 by Consul General Usop.
“It is our commitment to provide good governance and administration to our school, which are in line with the desires and aspirations of the Philippine Community and the IPSJ parents,” said the letter signed by Hernandez and six other members of his team.
Rodriguez and his officials yesterday said what the Hernandez team did was nothing but an attempt to grab power because they are not supported by a majority of the parents. He claims that ‘the parents are the supreme authority ... and parents will be consulted’ but he appointed himself and his members without going through the screening and election process,” said the BOT statement, referring to Hernandez.
It said it is very clear from the IPSJ’s constitution and by-laws that members of the BOT have to be chosen by the parents in an election supervised by the MOE.
“There was no election conducted on Oct. 11, 2002. Some parents around 40 out of 600 led by Fidel Hernandez attempted to have an assembly but it was aborted as there was no permit from the Ministry of Education,” it added.
According to the same statement, Consul General Usop’s endorsement of the “deceptive” act of Hernandez and his cohorts defies logic.
“What puzzles most parents is that the consul general has not attended a single function of the school for the past 3 years and suddenly he became active in installing new set of officers of the school. The parents deserve an explanation from the consul general for this very alarming action,” it said.
BOT members also said Usop’s swearing in of the ‘new’ trustees was without basis considering that there is a standing order by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in Manila for the consul general to interfere no more in the IPSJ’s affairs.
Usop used to act as supervisor of the IPSJ in behalf of the Philippine ambassador in Riyadh since 1998.
But in early 2000 when the school was transformed from an embassy school into a community school, the school was removed from the embassy’s jurisdiction.
In line with that policy, IPSJ parents and teachers in September of 1999 elected Rodriguez and several others in a poll supervised by the MOE and the Consulate.
When Usop dilly-dallied in effecting the turnover, the elected Board members called the attention of DFA.
In response, then DFA Secretary Domingo Siazon in January 2000 ordered Usop to turn over all his responsibilities as supervisor to the elected Board.