JEDDAH, 30 May 2003 — Philippine Consul General Kadatuan P. Usop has dismissed the group of parents that seized control of the International Philippine School in Jeddah (IPSJ), Arab News has learned.
In a meeting with school teachers and staff on Wednesday, Usop explained that his order was in line with instructions from both the Saudi Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Philippine government to reinstate the elected board that was ousted late last year.
Usop issued his orders after the de facto board chaired by Fidel Hernandez appointed Marietta Catacutan as the new principal.
Arab News failed to get any detailed response from the Philippine Consulate.
But as gathered by Arab News from various sources within the IPSJ community, Usop declared the appointment invalid, saying the Hernandez board did not have the legitimate authority to run the school.
Usop then told the faculty and staff to take orders only from de Leon and the legitimate board.
De Leon was named principal by the Hernandez board after it seized control of the school from the Board of Trustees chaired by Efren Rodriguez.
The takeover was the culmination of protests launched by parents against the Rodriguez board members, whom they accused of overstaying their term and of committing numerous irregularities, including the failure to account for school funds. The also accused board members of abusing their authority, including failure to pay the tuition of their children and taking huge loans.
Usop backed the Hernandez group then, saying he was under orders from Manila to intervene and restore order in the school perennially troubled by power struggles.
The IPSJ, the oldest and largest Philippine overseas school with a pre-school to high school student population of over 1,200 last year, used to be a Philippine Embassy school.
It became a community school in 1999 in line with a new Saudi policy governing foreign schools in the Kingdom.
When Usop installed the Hernandez board last November, he promised to call for an election for a new board before the end of January 2003.
The Saudi MOE, however, refused to recognize the Hernandez board and insisted on the reinstatement of the Rodriguez board to pave the way for the holding of an election of a new board.
Last April, the ministry served notice to the school that unless that unless power was returned to the Rodriguez board and the consul general stopped interfering, the school’s license to operate would be cancelled and the IPSJ would be closed.
Based on records gathered by Arab News, Usop relinquished his interim chairmanship of the school on the day the ministry issued the warning.
Usop then went to Manila for unstated reasons and the de facto board named Hernandez as chairman of the school board, ignoring the ministry’s warning.
Ambassador Bahnarim Guinomla, meanwhile, met with MOE officials and assured them that their instructions would be carried out, Arab News also learned.
In dismissing the Hernandez board, Usop reportedly told Wednesday’s meeting with the school faculty and staff that his mission was to make sure that an orderly election of a new board, based on the rules set by the Saudi MOE and the Philippine Inter-Agency Committee (IAC), would be conducted.
He was quoted as saying that as soon as a new board was elected and sworn into office, it would be his last to be seen in the school. It was learned that Usop will complete his tour of duty in the Kingdom in August.
Business as Usual
In a telephone interview yesterday, Hernandez said his group was not commenting yet on Usop’s verbal order dismissing it from running the school.
“We did hear about that information but we want to verify it first. The consul general has not talked to the board so far,” he said. “Who knows, it could be part of the misinformation campaign of those who wish us ill.”
Hernandez said as far his group was concerned, Mrs. Catacutan is the new principal, enrolment would go, and that classes would open on June 7.
“Mrs. Catacutan had just finished conducting a three-day seminar-workshop and all our faculty and staff have a high moral. They are very much ready to face the challenges of the coming schoolyear,” Hernandez said.
He said they expect the school population to hit 1,500 this year, with most of the students of the defunct Achievers School transferring to IPSJ. Hernandez said their priority is to continue providing “quality education” and to upgrade their computer laboratory facilities.
