MANILA/JEDDAH, 13 July 2003 — Senator Noli de Castro has urged the immediate recall of the Philippine consul general in Jeddah, Kadatuan Usop, for alleged insubordination in connection with the dispute over the International Philippine School in Jeddah (IPSJ).
In a press statement issued by his office, de Castro said Usop’s refusal to comply with the directives of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to relinquish control of the IPSJ “demands stern disciplinary action.”
“Consul General Kadatuan Usop should be reprimanded for insubordination in ignoring the direct order of his superiors at the DFA,” de Castro said.
He said the DFA should investigate reports that under “Usop’s administration, the schoolteachers and employees are suffering as the consul general is withholding their salaries from them.”
Earlier, Rep. Faysah Dumarpa of Lanao del Sur, who was tasked to head the House fact-finding mission to Saudi Arabia, said that “Usop’s immediate replacement in the Jeddah Consulate has become imperative to guarantee an objective and fair probe into his alleged involvement in the mismanagement of IPSJ.”
In his press statement, de Castro said he had been receiving complaints from parents of IPSJ of the withdrawal of 129,000 riyals from the school account at Saudi Hollandi Bank without approval from the school board.
Fidel Hernandez, chairman of the de facto school board that Usop dismissed last month, had earlier raised the “missing” fund in interviews with Manila newspapers.
Efforts to contact the consul general failed. Arab News learned from IPSJ officials close to Usop that the money was only transferred to another account to keep it out of the Hernandez board’s reach.
Late last year, Usop helped the group of Hernandez in evicting the school’s elected Board of Trustees chaired by Efren Rodriguez amid charges of overstaying their term, mismanagement, and failure to account for the school funds.
Despite the insistence of the Saudi Ministry of Education (MOE) for the reinstatement of the Rodriguez board, Usop and the Hernandez group went on to jointly manage the school.
Things went awry, however, when the Hernandez board reportedly started questioning Usop’s decisions. The Hernandez board also fired Mohammad Issa Carlos de Leon as principal for “insubordination” and “conduct unbecoming of a school head.”
Last month, amid determined resistance from the Hernandez group, Usop asserted his authority by dismissing his former allies, reinstating de Leon, and replacing all the school guards with his own men.
Meantime, DFA Secretary Blas Ople directed Ambassador Bahnarim Guinomla and Usop to immediately reinstate the Rodriguez board to pave the way for the election of a new board, and for the consulate to stop interfering in the affairs of the school.
Ople said this was in conformity with a directive of the Saudi MOE last April, which warned that the school would be closed if the consulate continued to interfere.
Instead of carrying out Ople’s order, the ambassador and consul general tentatively scheduled an election on July 11 at the IPSJ. Guinomla reportedly informed Manila that the election was coordinated with the host government.
Sources at the DFA in Manila said Guinomla was compelled to cancel the election after Ople issued him another order to reinstate Rodriguez.
Arab News learned that Guinomla subsequently directed the acting principal, Carlos de Leon, to reinstate Rodriguez and his board members but this could not be immediately confirmed.
Sought for comment yesterday, Rodriguez said he was also made aware of the directive but refused to comment until he received a copy of the ambassador’s memorandum.
De Castro said the DFA should make haste in straightening up the IPSJ mess, warning that the school could lose its license to operate altogether.
Arab News learned that of the different school for expatriates whose license have expired on July 1, only that of the IPSJ had not been renewed because of the “non-compliance” of its April directive.
Founded in 1981 as an embassy school, the IPSJ is the oldest and biggest Philippine overseas school, with a yearly enrolment of about 1,200 students from the pre-elementary to high school levels.
