JEDDAH, 9 November — The confused state of the International Philippine School in Jeddah (IPSJ) reached a new height yesterday as calls for parents not to send their children to school swept the community amid a continuing power struggle.

Arab News gathered that a third bloc of parents launched the boycott to protest the takeover of the school by the group backed by the Philippine Consulate General, as well as the inaction of the Board of Trustees (BOT) on their numerous complaints.

The BOT earlier tried to stop the protest move but last night its leaders said they have decided to support it to isolate the new group that seized power.

In a bid to stave off the boycott campaign, the Consulate-backed new "trustees" led by Fidel Hernandez called on parents not to let their children be affected by the power struggle.

"We are appealing to faculty members and parents not to heed the so-called boycott. We’re telling them not to fall prey to such rumor-mongering," Hernandez, chairman of the "new BOT," said.

"We’ve been telling parents that there will be normal classes and so they should send their children to school. We’re sure the boycott call is the handiwork of the outgoing BOT and their cohorts," said Hernandez, who was with his co-leaders at the Arab News last night.

Hernandez said they have indeed taken over the school management, replacing the principal, treasurer and several others to carry out their mandate given by a parents assembly on Oct. 11.

Apart from Hernandez as chairman, the "new trustees" sworn in by Consul General Kadatuan Usop on Oct. 29 were Yusoph A. Saadra as vice chairman; Abdullah U. Abutazil and Albert G. Pecson as MOE representatives; Reymar U. Guadania, Jennur S. Ailani, and Shamsuddin S. Junaide as parent representative.

Hernandez said they have to take swift action, such as having the school’s bank account "frozen" before the Rodriguez BOT siphons off whatever is left of the money.

"The school is facing a difficult situation as there are no funds to pay for school expenses and even payment of teachers’ salaries," he said.

Two targets

Before the Rodriguez and Hernandez groups issued counter-statements, the third faction of parents, which earlier broke away from the Hernandez group, announced the boycott to protect their children from possible violence in school.

"We want the two groups engaged in this power struggle to know that we are not supporting any of them," said the third bloc leaders, who are presidents of the various Parent-Teachers Groups at the IPSJ.

A statement by the group said the leaders include Lito Lazo, Nilo Lucena, Mar Marzo, Ronald Mangua, Muhammad Bantuas, Resty Vanguardia, and Chris Magno.

"What we want is an urgent election to resolve this power-struggle once and for all," said the group. "We don’t want the Rodriguez BOT to stay on but we also don’t want what the Hernandez group had done."

"We don’t want overstayers and we don’t want power-grabbers," the third group said.

Last week, the Ministry of Education (MOE) had promised that an election is being arranged probably in February and that a parents’ general assembly will be scheduled in two weeks’ time.

But the third bloc said they have not seen any concrete steps by the Rodriguez BOT in fulfilling these promises. " What we feel is that they are trying to neutralize us. We haven’t even seen them scheduling the general assembly," said one of the PTG presidents.

On the other hand, they said, the rejection by Hernandez’s group of the election call was contrary to their original intent.

Why they joined

Rodriguez said they have decided to tell the school faculty and staff to go on holiday for their own safety as he charged the Hernandez group of employing "goons."

"What they’re doing is dangerous. They even have goons inside the school premises," he said.

He said the "goons" are non-parents whose presence is meant to intimidate those who refuse to go along with the Hernandez group.

Rodriguez added that the Hernandez group not only "illegally suspended" the principal and treasurer but have also committed "criminal acts," such as by replacing the door locks of several offices, including those of the principal and treasurer.

Asked what they will do if the power struggle remains unresolved tomorrow, Rodriguez said they are still planning their next move.

"This could be indefinite," he said, hinting that the ball is in the hands of the Ministry of Education.

Hernandez’s colleagues denied using goons. "We only have parents as supporters," said one.

Root of the matter

Both the Hernandez group and the third bloc were saying trouble would not have come to this point had the MOE not changed the term of the Board of Trustees without consulting the parents considering that the IPSJ is a community school.

Rodriguez yesterday defended this, saying the MOE’s new policy applied to all foreign school’s, contrary to the charge by a Philippine Consulate official that a different standard was being applied on the IPSJ.

When the Rodriguez BOT was elected in late 1999, it was made clear that their term would be for only one year. The next year, the BOT had the parents approve a Constitution and By-Laws setting their term to two years. An MOE policy later made the term three years, which could be extended by a year if a new Board is not yet elected.

Mother proposes solution

Meanwhile, a parent said a key to resolving the perennial power struggle at IPSJ is to lower the tuition and other fees.

"Everyone is aspiring for a seat in the BOT not really because they are power-hungry but because they want to dip their hand in the school’s coffers," the parent – a mother – said in a telephone interview with Arab News on Thursday night.

The school, whose 1,200 student population makes it the biggest Philippine school abroad, charges a uniform yearly fee of 4,500 riyals per student, from preschool to high school.

Discounts are given out for those who have 2nd and 3rd children enrolled in the school. A 4th child gets a bonus of free tuition.

"If we reduce the tuition to a level which would just be enough to keep the school in tip-top shape, there will be no incentive for them (parents) to fight for BOT seats.

"If we make it a thankless job to be a BOT member, we will see only those dedicated to the cause of the school volunteering to serve," the mother said in Tagalog.

She asked not to be identified for her children’s safety as she cited the ongoing tensions at the oldest Philippine overseas school. She said the Rodriguez BOT has lost the respect of majority of the parents because of its failure to address complaints of nepotism, misuse of funds, mismanagement, and for overstaying.

Milking cow

"At least three of the BOT members have taken advantage of their powers by employing their wives at the IPSJ. The wife of one was terminated by the previous Board for inefficiency but she was rescued by her husband when he won a seat," said the source.

She also alleged that a number of BOT members have accumulated big debts from the school.

"They have turned the school into a money-lending agency," she said.

What hurts many parents more, she added, is that when they are a little late in paying, their children are barred from taking their periodic exams.

"Obviously Efren Rodriguez cannot take action against this erring BOT members because they are his cohorts," the source added.

She said the problem could not have reached the point where parents had to seize power that way if the BOT had heeded their call for an election.

"At this point, let’s give the group of Hernandez a chance. We will ask them to sign a contract with us to lower the tuition. If they don’t, we will withdraw our support," she said.

"We sought the help of the Consulate because there’s no other forum to run to," the same parent added.