SOMETHING is indeed brewing at the Angelicum School Iloilo or ASIL and it’s definitely not coffee or beer but the makings of an internal strife resulting into your classic intrigue.
And “it’s getting curiouser and curiouser” cried Alice in Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass.”
So what’s going on, rather what has happened, at the Lizares Mansion that managed to grab the limelight from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that the natives of “I Am Iloilo City” can’t seem to stop talking about?
Well, not the entire population of “I Am Iloilo City” but just the middle and upper class, mostly alumni, current and former teachers, and parents of learners of Angelicum School Iloilo.
Certainly, the hoi polloi couldn’t care less about the intrigues brewing at that school for the middle class.
For those lost in translation lest you might get disoriented, that stately Lizares Mansion in MacArthur Drive, Tabuc Suba, Jaro is the campus of Angelicum School Iloilo. It’s not only a school but a heritage sight and one of the tourist attractions in “I Am Iloilo City”.
And this added more interesting flavor to Le Affair Angelicum.
Le Affair Angelicum started with this:
Excerpts from the May 29, 2020 issue of Panay News:
Angelicum School succumbs to COVID-19
Shut down of more private schools feared
Effective July 31, 2020 respected private Catholic school Angelicum School Iloilo (ASIL) based in Jaro district would cease its operation. School Director Reverend Father Maximo Gatela cited the difficulty that the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has created.
On Wednesday night, May 27, Father Gatela issued an official statement addressed to the parents of Angelicum students announcing the school’s decision to close.
Prior to this, Gatela held an online meeting with the officers of the school’s council of parents on May 9 and expressed to them the difficulty that COVID-19 had brought to the over 40-year-old educational institution.
“The experience of the 4th Grading Period was difficult for all of us. The sad part was that ASIL was not ready and failed miserably in delivering the services,” read part of Gatela’s statement.
As the situation of uncertainty continues, according to Gatela, “we cannot prolong the 4th Grading experience throughout the whole school year nor keep you hanging in the air. Effective July 31, 2020, ASIL will cease operation.”
Just like that. Out of the blue this news came out and prompted the alumni of the school to comment: “Angelicum just gave up easily.” And it does seem rather strange if not curious considering that Angelicum School Iloilo is owned and operated by the Dominican order which also owns much bigger institutions of higher learning in the Philippines i.e. the University of Santo Tomas or UST, the Colegio de San Juan de Letran and UST Angelicum Quezon City to name a few. It is also a known fact that the Dominican Order is one of the financially stable and capable religious orders in the world.
If small independent schools have dug deep and strived to weather this pandemic out, why give up so easily, Angelicum? If you think that’s how the intrigues started, maybe. But there’s more curious news the day after.
Excerpts from the May 30, 2020 issue of Panay News:
Board ‘overrules’ Angelicum closure notice; SCHOOL HEAD QUITS
Angelicum School Iloilo is not closing after all.
The Board of Trustees of Angelicum overruled the announced cessation of the school’s operation.
In a “Corrective Statement” issued yesterday, the Board clarified that it and the Provincial Council of the Dominican Province of the Philippines “didn’t approve any cessation of operation.”
The Board also announced it had accepted the resignation of Angelicum school administrator Father Maximo Gatela.
Gatela issued a statement on Wednesday night announcing that Angelicum would cease operating by July 1, 2020.
Friday morning, the Board issued what it called a “corrective statement.” Part of it read: “This is to inform the public that the Board of the Trustees of Angelicum School, Inc., Jaro, Iloilo City hereby overrules and recalls the announcement of the ‘Notice of ASIL’s Cessation of Operation’ as issued by her Director last May 27, 2020.”
The corrective statement was signed by Father Napoleon Sipalay Jr., prior provincial of the Dominican Province of the Philippines (DPP) and chairman of the Board of Trustees of Angelicum School.
So what was all the melodrama about? Perhaps foreplay of things to come?
What prompted resigned or “booted out” former ASIL director maximo Gatela to come out with the closure announcement?
What was the “sad experience in the 4th grading period” that should not be prolonged?
Almost all schools managed to sort out their “final day” interruption caused by the pandemic lockdown. The signs were there and most schools were aware of the inevitable. Does that mean that the Angelicum School administration just sat on their derrières and nonchalantly expect the pandemic to be just swept under the rug?
It does seem that somebody made huge faux pas and was unceremoniously booted out. It was good that the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Angelicum school manged to diffuse the situation and restore order.
I certainly hope I have not spoken too soon./PN
