JEDDAH, 14 November 2004 — Parents and officials of the International Philippine School in Jeddah (IPSJ) are calling on members of the school board to settle their dispute in a civil manner.

They issued the plea following an attempt on the life of Board of Trustees Chairman Lito Lazo by unidentified “hit men” last Wednesday, reportedly as an offshoot of a power struggle in the school.

“We need to meet — the board and school officials — to investigate and trace the perpetrators. This is embarrassing, they did it to the chairman of the board,” principal Ameera Ali told Arab News in a telephone interview on Friday.

Mrs. Ali and other officials came to see Lazo after he underwent treatment at a hospital for injuries he got when the “hit men” tried to run him over with a car in front of his house.

A number of parents also urged responsible leaders of the Filipino community to take action, prevail upon or help identify those who are responsible for the murder attempt.

Some parents said they were told that the person who wants Lazo killed has been undeterred by the botched murder attempt. The suspects reportedly boasted to some friends that they were not through yet with Lazo.

Lazo said he has information about the identities of his assailants and he hopes to “positively identify them” at the right venue and time. “I want to make sure that they are positively identified because I have to make a formal report to the Ministry of Education. Then it is up to the MOE to act on the matter,” he said.

Foulest Level

“Violence is nothing new to us here in IPSJ but this time it has appears to have reached its foulest, lowest, most barbaric level, “ said one parent, who had been witness to years of rage and disquiet in the school.

Another parent said the tumultuous power struggle between the administrations of former board chairman Efren Rodriguez and Fidel Hernandez from 2002 to last year pales in comparison to what had happened in IPSJ these past weeks.

In a previous interview, Lazo told Arab News that someone who was after his seat was behind the murder attempt. He refused to give a name, saying it would be done in the proper forum.

Community sources said, however, that the murder attempt mostly stemmed from someone being bypassed by Lazo in the hiring and firing of staff.

Some parents, meanwhile, said the MOE should as well dissolve the current school board headed by Lazo because “it has become another bad model for our children.”

They said the board never had any formal meeting since their election because of the bad chemistry among its members.

Parents have also complained about the school board’s inability to protect school property and its students and teachers, such as last month’s attempt by two students to burn their classroom.

“We are surprised because suspects have been caught in both incidents but they have remained unpunished. Is it because some of them are children of certain school officials?” asked the same parent, who asked not to be identified.

One of the suspects reportedly confessed to the crime but it appeared that the case was settled amicably among the board and the parents of the students.

There were other cases where cars of parents have been vandalized and other school officials having been bodily harmed.

One parent had earlier asked the Philippine Consulate in Jeddah to intervene in the current IPSJ power struggle but consulate officials said they have no administrative jurisdiction over the school anymore.

In a letter to IPSJ officials recently, Vice Consul Jose Jacob explained that the school is under the Saudi MOE, and the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila has a standing order for the consulate to keep its hands off.

The DFA issued the order last year when then Consul General Kadatuan Usop seized control of the school from the group of Fidel Hernandez, which the consulate helped the year before in ousting the group of Efren Rodriguez.

Jacob said the consulate is allowed by the DFA only to help ensure that the school continues to offer quality education to its students.

Founded in 1982, the IPSJ is the oldest overseas school formerly run by the Philippine Embassy. It is also the largest, with a yearly average enrolment of 1,2000 students. Four years ago, it became a community school under a new policy of the Saudi MOE.