DAMMAM, 8 January 2006 — Fourteen Filipino schools throughout the Gulf region will compete in the 3rd Order of the Knights of Rizal (OKOR) Talents, Academic and Skills Competition.
Organized by the OKOR Middle East and Africa Regional Council (MEARC), the event will be held at the Bahrain Carlton Hotel in Manama on Jan. 11 to 13.
More than 200 students and teachers are expected to gather in Bahrain for the event, which had been timed with the weeklong Haj holidays, said Alberto Layag, the regional commander of the MEARC.
At stake are trophies in the Battle of the Brains, Essay Writing in English and Filipino, On-The-Spot Painting, and the oratorical contest in the Young Jose Rizal and Young Maria Clara portion.
Among the participating schools are the Second Philippine International School (SPIS) in Riyadh, last year’s over-all champion, and the Al-Andalus International School (AAIS) in Alkhobar, the 2004 champion.
Three more schools are from the Central Region of Saudi Arabia. These are the Elite International School (EIS), Nour Al-Maaref International School (NAIS), and Palm Crest International School (PCIS).
The Western Region will be represented by students from GEMS International School (GIS), Sunrise International School (SIS) and the International Philippine School in Jeddah (IPSJ).
Joining AAIS to represent the Eastern Region is the International Philippine School in Alkhobar (IPSA). The Philippine School in Dammam (PSD), which finished 4th overall out of 12 schools that competed last year, did not join this time.
Qatar will be represented by the Philippine International School in Doha, Qatar (PSDQ). United Arab Emirates’s representative is the Private International School (PISCO) in Abu Dhabi.
Kuwait will be represented by the Philippine International English School (PIES) and the New Kuwait Philippine International School (NKPIS), while Bahrain’s confirmed participant is the Philippine School in Bahrain (PSB).
Isagani Manalo, OKOR head in the Kingdom and the overall chairman of this year’s event, said former Sen. Joey Lina, the current OKOR supreme commander, along with former former supreme commanders Jess David and Carmelo Gempesaw, had been invited as guests of honor. “The annual competition also brings together senior knights and commanders of the Order from different corners of the Middle East and Africa Region,” Manalo said.
OKOR, a cultural, civic, non-sectarian, non-partisan, international brotherhood organization based in Manila, is represented by chapters all over the world.
The event aims to inculcate in young Filipinos the importance of the teachings of Dr. Jose P. Rizal, whose writings inspired many revolutionaries to rise against Spain’s despotic colonial rulers in the late 19th century.
Rizal’s refusal to take up arms had been disparaged by latter-day ideologues, who consider him to be of lesser importance compared to Andres Bonifacio, who led the Philippine Revolution of 1896. Ironically, Bonifacio looked up to Rizal as an inspiration.
Rizal is also revered by those who are aware of him in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Brunei as the one of the greatest Malay thinkers.