Secretary for Foreign Affairs Blas F. Ople has instructed the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah and the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh to reinstate the legitimate board members of the International Philippine School in Jeddah (IPSJ), pending the conduct of the school board elections, in compliance with the directive of the Saudi Ministry of Education.

In November 2002, the Office of the Middle East and African Affairs and the Commission on Filipino Overseas authorized the temporary intervention of Consul General Kadatuan Usop for the purpose of restoring normalcy at the IPSJ. It was clearly understood that the restoration was to be based upon the holding of fresh elections to be supervised both by Saudi and Philippine government authorities.

The Department believes that the Philippine Consulate in Jeddah and the Embassy in Riyadh must not interfere with the administration of IPSJ in order to avoid any appearance of impropriety. - END