JEDDAH – Confusion continued to prevail yesterday at the International Philippine School in Jeddah (IPSJ) on the second day of a class boycott in protest against a takeover by a group of parents.
But while the protesters waited in vain for the expected intervention by the Saudi Ministry of Education, the "new Board of Trustees" backed by the Philippine Consulate continued to consolidate its hold.
Meeting the faculty and staff who came to school yesterday, "new" Board chairman Fidel Hernandez appointed one of the teachers, Guillermo Alcaraz, as the acting principal. Alcaraz took over the post from Reinita Respicio, whom Hernandez said was "under suspension for insubordination and conduct unbecoming."
He accused Respicio of colluding with the BOT chaired by Efren Rodriguez by "disseminating misleading information" against his group to members of the faculty and staff.
Hernandez further chided Respicio for saying that only about 200 students attended class on Saturday, the start of the boycott.
According to his camp, an overwhelming 95 percent of the students attended, making the boycott campaign a sham.
"Today, the teachers who didn’t come can be counted with the fingers and many of the students who did not come on Saturday were present. Even the children of some of the so-called Third Force leaders came," he said.
He said what happened was not a true boycott because it was done by threatening and harassing parents. "It would be a real boycott if the parents went for it voluntarily, not because of fear or deceipt," he said.
Efren Rodriguez, chairman of the MOE-recognized BOT, said Hernandez’s count was laughable.
He said they have a record of the class attendance on Saturday showing that only 176 students came, or about 14 percent of the school’s 1,230 or so population.
"How can you call that a flop?" asked Rodriguez, who claims to be still in control of the school’s financial resources.
"We got out of the school premises because we didn’t want it to be destroyed," he said, explaining that the Hernandez and his "goons" were engaged in provocative acts that could lead to violence.
Today, however, he said school operations will be back to normal. "Classes will resume. We have instructed all faculty and staff to return to work," he said by phone.
In a prepared statement, he asked teachers and staff to disregard orders from the group of Hernandez and his appointees.
"We ask all parents to be vigilant and ensure that only parents who are duly elected will sit in the Board and perform its functions in accordance with the law," he said.
He said all academic functions will resume as normal but the finance and registrar function will be suspended until the MOE comes and implement its decision.
"It is our duty to protect the best interest of the school and its constituents. We trust that this brief statement will enlighten you on the direction we are taking," he said.
Nilo Lucena, a leader of the group of the group of parents that broke away from Hernandez’s faction, said the boycott was indeed a success.
"In fact, the school was for the second day like a ghost town," he said, adding that only a few teachers came despite an alleged intimidation campaign by Hernandez’s group."We were told that the faculty and staff were rounded up to attend a meeting that he called. They were scared of being fired," he said.
Lucena’s group, unofficially known as the Third Bloc or Third Force, is led by presidents of the various Parent-Teachers Groups (PTG) which broke away from Hernandez’s group for allegedly not following their agreed objective of pushing for an election.
Lucena and his co-leaders said the boycott was only for two days as a warning to both the Rodriguez and Hernandez group to address their demand for an election of a new BOT.
"We will proceed with our next boycott plan if the power struggle continues," said Lucena.
He said the continued stay of the Rodriguez BOT is untenable but so is the seizure of power by the Hernandez group.
"The situation now is that here is the Rodriguez BOT recognized by the MOE but which cannot work because it is not in physical control of the school. The Hernandez group is in physical control of the school but it cannot work properly because it is not in control of the finances," he said.
He said the Third Force also decried the suspension or termination of the principal and other staff as a sign of what kind of administrator Hernandez would be.
"They have terminated or suspended the principal without due course and sufficient reason. They’re terminating people without thinking of the consequences," he said.
The Third Force itself was placed in a bind yesterday when one of the PTG members named as one of their leaders declared that it was with the Hernandez bloc.
Mohammad Y. Bantuas, a president of the Grade V PTG, said the inclusion of his name as a third blocker was "unlawful" and without his consent.
Bantuas, in a letter to Arab News, said what happened was that he was called by one of the Third Force leaders to attend a meeting without informing him of the topic to be discussed. He said he did plan to go but only "to persuade them to support what shall be the common decision of both the MOE and the Philippine Consulate, which shall eventually come next."
He said he believed there was no need for such a third group because the aims set by the Hernandez group was "crystal clear to be for the betterment of the school. Our plan which we believe can alleviate the present educational standard of IPSJ can be relayed to the group of Hernandez," he said.
Besides, he added, Hernandez had assured that "a cutback of tuition fees commensurate to the school income shall be his first priority." He further said that Hernandez had made a pledge to call for an election after their complaint against the Rodriguez BOT members were settled.
Nilo Lucena said they were surprised by Bantuas’ sudden change of heart.
"During that night when we talked, we laid down our position, which is to pursue the original objective of the PTC to push for an election of a new Board. Contrary to his claim, Mr. Bantuas knew all along what our meeting was all about," he said.
"What took him so long to decide? Something could have gone wrong," he wondered.
Lucena said, however, that they were not taking it against Bantuas because there was ongoing campaign by the Hernandez group to either persuade or harass the rest of the parents to join them.
Hernandez yesterday repeated his call on parents to attend today’s flag ceremony at the IPSJ, promising them a surprise guest.
Members of the Rodriguez group and the Third Force said they were told that it will not be Ambassador Bahnarim Guinomla, so it could be Consul General Kadatuan Usop.
The consul general had refused to make a public statement on its stand on the IPSJ crisis, although it was he who swore in Hernandez and six others as the "new " IPSJ trustees on Oct. 29.
The IPSJ, the first Philippine embassy school abroad and currently the biggest overseas Filipino community school, used to be supervised by Usop, acting as representative of the Philippine ambassador to Saudi Arabia.
Guinomla also acted as IPSJ overseer from 1994 to 1997 when he was consul general in Jeddah. "As far as we know, the school has been turned over to parents, so why should the Consulate try to take over it again? We have to know. The parents and students are suffering," asked Lucena.
Hernandez said it’s useless for the Third Force not to support him because majority of the parents are now with his group.
"In fact some of the parents are looking for Lito Lazo (another PTG president) for calling their children not to go to school," he said.
He also accused Rodriguez and BOT member Ed Alcantara of misleading and intimidating other parents and harassing faculty members. "That’s a sign of cowardice and irresponsible act, especially to our children," he said. "The fight is between management but why are they including the academic?"
As for the Third Force, he said they are not fighting for any principles (walang prinsipyo na ipinaglalaban). "If they are true to what they claim they should not include the children. They should face us, they should request a meeting with us," he said.
Asked if he would bring down the tuition fee if he becomes the undisputed BOT chair, Hernandez said they would first look into the financial status of the school let the parents decide. "We will first conduct an audit, review the records, and present all these to the parents so that they can make an intelligent decision," he said.
On whether he would call for an election, he said the decision will also be made by parents but only after the audit, review and reorganization of the school is completed.
"We promise to observe a policy of consultations. No major decision shall be made without consultation with parents, because they are supreme the authority," he said.
He warned the school faculty and staff who refused to toe the line that they would be replaced.