JEDDAH, 15 December — The Cruc is not a legitimate member of the Alpha Phi Omega (APO) and neither is Consul Jesus Domingo an honorary member of the fraternity.
The APO National Council in the Philippines issued these rulings with an instruction for the group calling itself Cruc, or the Central Region Unified Chapters, to stop all its activities as an APO fraternity alumni organization.
Blu Adiong, APO’s national president, instructed the national executive secretary "to dispatch all memorandum to effect the stoppage of activities of Cruc in Riyadh as an illegal group," the Arab News learned.
The council further ruled, upon recommendations made by Executive Council at their meeting on Dec. 8 in Los Baños, Laguna, that the group called Aporaa is the only recognized community alumni APO in Riyadh and its suburbs.
Aporaa, which stands for Riyadh Alumni Association, is currently headed by Dr. Raymond Alipit.
Consul Domingo got embroiled in the dispute when Aporaa accused him of conspiring with a former president of the association to form the Cruc. It was Domingo who issued a press statement announcing the Cruc’s formation and induction of its new officers last October, and inviting APO alumni to join.
But he denied being one of the organizers, saying he only played a "ministerial" role in response to a request for assistance made by Cruc leaders.
Aporaa officials, however, said no amount of denial by Domingo would hide his role. They claimed that Cruc leader Boggs Bolor is his "sidekick."
Despite a previous injunction by the APO Executive Council, Cruc leaders have reportedly continued with their activities in the name of APO.
Aporaa members called Arab News’ attention to an advertisement that came out in The Filipino Channel (TFC) on Thursday night, saying APO-Riyadh is to hold a function on Dec. 20. Among the contact persons named were Monching Clavano and Vir Wijangco.
Aporaa said this constitutes defiance of the national council’s directive.
In line with the national council’s rulings, national APO auditor Boy Lopez, in an article distributed from Manila, called on members not to be distracted in pursuing the group’s theme, "Quest for World Peace."
Tomorrow, APO will mark its 76th anniversary as an international collegiate service fraternity. APO is a worldwide organization of men and women whose philosophy are anchored on its three cardinal principles of leadership, friendship and service.
It was founded in 1925 by Dr. Frank Reed Horton in Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania, USA and its members are enjoined to "seek to end the division that have threatened to pull nations apart...that this is the time of rebuilding... and to rebuild one’s nation we must have peace."
In Riyadh, Alipit pointed to these goal of "rebuilding" as he called on members who have been "misled" into joining the Cruc to return and help strengthen Aporaa.
"If you have any constructive ideas, by all means, share them with the group. But let’s not dismember our very own organization," Alipit said.
"How can we go into nation-building when we ourselves cannot work together?"
