JEDDAH, 21 October 2003 — “Return every single halala to the school’s coffer or face charges,” this was the warning from the director of the Ministry of Education to the previous boards of trustees of the International Philippine School in Jeddah (IPSJ).
Manzour Ghazali, director of foreign schools, was reacting to the enormous “honorarium” allegedly taken or off-setted to the tuition fees by the “interim board” of Fidel Hernandez now totaling SR73,000.
In a phone interview yesterday, Ghazali said, “Working on a school board is a voluntary act of public service and they should not take money, and instead should give something to help the school.”
He added that “the school now is in a state of financial crises and I personally appeal to anyone to return or pay whatever they owe the school.”
Under the chairmanship of Efren Rodriguez and in accordance to the prevailing school’s Constitution and By-Laws (CBL), each member of the board was entitled to a SR500 monthly allowance/honorarium. An unprecedented board resolution was made when the Hernandez group took over, increasing it to SR1,500 monthly, apparently with the blessings of the Philippine Consul General Kadatuan Usop.
The Hernandez group vehemently denied the accusation. Speaking on behalf of the interim board, former administrative officer Kareema Maranda, said: “The interim board did not receive a single halala, neither did they request to off-set the honorarium to the tuition fees.”
The financial crisis was also brought about by the inability of the previous boards to turnover the funds kept under their possession.
This was learned yesterday from Ameerah S. Ali, the interim principal and overall administrator, who said she has to go through a lot of embarrassing situations to cope up with the current financial crisis. The rental for the school building, that remains to be fully paid, is a typical example of her bizarre predicament. “I have to beg and cry to the owner for consideration and understanding,” Ali said.
Empowered by the Saudi Ministry of Education and the Philippine Consulate, Ali made an appeal to the previous boards of Rodriguez and Hernandez to hand over the school’s properties, be it material or financial. According to Ali, three weeks have passed but none of them have attempted to clear their liabilities.
It has been previously reported that Rodriguez has around SR220,000 in school funds still deposited at the Saudi Hollandi Bank, while the Hernandez board has yet to explain the enormous amount of money spent during their term as the “interim board”.
“If all these monies are at hand, we wouldn’t have any financial problems at all and the school’s operation would run smoothly. We cannot even afford to buy the basic needs such as school supplies,” Ali complained.
In a phone interview, Rodriguez said that all his financial liabilities are being taken care of, though he said it would take some time to complete the formalities. Maranda, on the other hand, said, “The interim board has nothing to turn over. The issue should be better answered by the former finance officer Nitz Gomez. We want Gomez to be properly audited.”
