JEDDAH, 29 July 2003 — In a swift action reminiscent of mutinous military officers in Manila, the de-facto board headed by Fidel Hernandez retook control of ISPJ last Saturday.
After the takeover, Hernandez terminated the services of all security personnel and installed a Saudi as head of security. Hernandez also “ordered” finance officer Nitz Gomez not to disburse any funds in her keeping.
In a telephone interview with Arab News, Hernandez, denied the power grab. He explained: “We just exercised our authority kasi wala nang control ang school.” He added that the contract of these security officers expired last June 26 and were not renewed, so why should the school continue to pay their wages?
Herandez added that as long as they are recognized as the interim board by the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) and the Inter-Agency Committee on Philippine Schools Overseas (IAC-PSO), they will continue to exercise their authority.
Acting principal Mohammad Issa De Leon, who was reportedly asked to resign, reacted to the “takeover” by writing to parents “so that may take prompt, direct and decisive action.” He proposed an “assembly to decide once and for all our problem in the school.”
He also admonished the parents for support, “You know that the Hernandez group was not duly elected and has no mandate from you. With their tendencies to use force and compulsion, the Saavedra-Hernandez clique is putting the IPSJ into a dungeon of untold crisis. The IPSJ has been functioning quite well without this group. Now, they brought in instability and turmoil at the IPSJ.”
Reminded that without a permit an assembly is illegal, De Leon said that what he intended when he wrote that letter was a “consultative meeting.” That would be scheduled any day this week and will be attended by officers from the consulate. De Leon claims he has the support of 90 percent of the parents, teachers, and staff of IPSJ.
Asked about the letter supposedly sent to him by Ambassador Guinomla asking for the reinstatement of the board headed by Efren Rodriguez, De Leon said that parents have expressed reservations over the matter claiming that some parents have reacted negatively to the idea and have told him that they don’t expect the Rodriguez board relinquish control once they are back in power.
Some group of parents hinted that they may consider the reinstatement of Rodriquez but with an understanding that they would hold an election two weeks after their reinstatement.
Rodriguez denied he will hang on to power once reinstated. “That is not true. What we will do when reinstated is to legitimize the board as the MOE has directed, and handover IPSJ to the new board. After we have been reinstated, we will declare an election immediately,” he told Arab News.
Rodriguez said they will report the takeover to the proper authorities (MOE) and let the authorities take action.
In their position paper, Hernandez declared “strong and unconditional opposition” to the reinstatement of Mr. Efren Rodriguez as chairman of the school board because of alleged serious violations.
In the same paper, Hernandez claims that under the administration of the consul general, “IPSJ is reeling on financial, administrative, and academic crisis.”
