JEDDAH/MANILA, 3 July 2003 — A directive by the Secretary of Foreign Affairs in Manila for the Philippine consul general in Jeddah to reinstate the “legitimate” board of the International Philippine School in Jeddah (IPSJ) has remained unenforced.
As a result, many parents and teachers at the IPSJ are in limbo.
In his directive that reached the Philippine Consulate on June 6, Secretary Blas Ople made it clear that foreign service posts are not to interfere with the affairs of Philippine schools abroad.
Ople said their role was “consultative (in) character” and not managerial or supervisory.
Ople’s directive meant that the school management should be turned over to the board of directors elected by parents in 1999.
The board chaired by Efren Rodriguez was forcibly ousted last November by a group of parents led by then Parents-Teachers Group (PTG) president Fidel Hernandez, with the help of the consulate.
The Saudi Ministry of Education (MOE), however, refused to recognize the Hernandez board and it has a standing warning that the school would be closed if the Rodriguez board is not reinstated.
Ople’s directive was apparently in line with the MOE’s position, as confirmed by the Department of Foreign Education in a press statement issued in Manila on June 26.
A day after Ople’s directive on June 6, however, Usop went on to appoint several people in key positions as he took full control of the school after dismissing the Hernandez board.
In his meeting with parents and teachers on June 7, he was said to have promised that his presence was temporary and that he would call an election for a new board of directors in the third week of June.
But in an interview at the Kapihan sa Jeddah Forum at the Tropicana Restaurant two weeks ago, Usop vehemently denied making such promise and refused to answer questions about the school.
Meanwhile, the group of Hernandez has continued to contest Usop’s authority in dismissing them.
The group had also issued an order terminating the services of the school principal, Muhammad Carlos Issa de Leon.
In an interview with the Tribune newspaper in Manila, Hernandez alleged that Usop had managed to withdraw 129,000 Saudi riyals from the school account at the Saudi Hollandi Bank without the approval of the school board.
“The consul general is now manning the school like it is his own,” Hernandez was quoted by the Tribune as saying.
A report by the Manila Bulletin on June 25 also quoted a letter by Hernandez to Secretary Ople, accusing the consul general of violating the policy on the operation of the school.
Arab News has tried but failed to get Usop’s side.
Usop’s interference at the school has also caught the attention of some legislators, with Lanao del Sur Rep. RPM Dumarpa, vice chairman of the House committee on Muslim affairs, urging the DFA to immediately recall Usop from his post.
“The official’s immediate replacement has become imperative to guarantee an objective and fair probe on his alleged involvement in the mismanagement of IPSJ,” Dumarpa said.
In Manila, Director Jose Molano of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) said the instruction of the interagency committee composed of representatives from the DFA and Department of Education was for Usop to help restore order only at IPSJ but not to run the school.
Arab News learned that unless the elected IPSJ board is reinstated and the consulate stops interfering, the Saudi MOE may not renew the school’s license when it expires on July 8. IPSJ is the biggest Philippine school abroad, with a yearly enrolment of about 1,200 students.
