La Salle quiz bee question irks Abalos

Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Benjamin Abalos has had enough and will not tolerate any more insinuations that the poll body manipulated the results of last year’s presidential elections.

Abalos lashed out at the De La Salle University for insinuating anew that some Comelec officials helped President Arroyo rig the May 2004 presidential race.

In a letter sent to the La Salle-Greenhills grade school principal, Abalos expressed his strong displeasure that students who participated in a quiz bee last October, including one of his grandchildren, were asked who was the Comelec official that padded votes in favor of Mrs. Arroyo.

"Sinong Comelec official ang nagdagdag ng boto kay President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo para siya ang manalo noong nakaraang eleksyon?" was reportedly how the question was phrased.

Although he was not listed as the correct answer in the multiple-choice question, Abalos said the mere mention of his name raised a cloud of doubt on his professional integrity as well as confused his grandson, who is in fifth grade.

"He (Abalos’ grandson) said that everyone in the room stared at him when my name was mentioned (as the first in the multiple-choice item)... He wondered whether his teachers were angry at him and intended to single him out or embarrass him," Abalos’ letter to La Salle-Greenhills grade school principal Evangeline Tamaca read.

Abalos said he was aware that La Salle had taken a strong stand concerning the country’s political crisis but said it should not pollute the minds of students and instead allow them to form their own opinions.

"However, I believe that the (recent) incident showed that La Salle has allowed political opinion to trickle into the arena of educating the students. Truly the paramount task of shaping the minds of our children should be carried out in utmost objectivity and neutrality, stripped of any political color," his letter said.

Abalos called on La Salle officials to implement measures to rectify the impressions of wrongdoing on his part, which he said "were not founded on facts but on mere conjecture."

In his letter, Abalos expressed hope that the La Salle administration would not repeat such an incident.

At the Department of Education, an official said yesterday the DepEd could "sanction" the private school or school official if it saw fit.

In a phone interview with The STAR, Loren Sarmiento of the legal division of DepEd’s central office in Pasig City, said the education department could sanction a school official if the case filed by a complainant is grave enough.

As a general rule, Sarmiento said the DepEd has no jurisdiction over a case filed against a private school or any of its officials. "Private schools are autonomous and have their own internal policies and regulations," she said.

DepEd only has full jurisdiction over school officials of elementary and high school levels of public schools in the country. But, she said, the DepEd could intervene in a case filed against a private school or official depending on the gravity of the case, such as if it involves a harmful punishment. "This is a case-to-base basis," said Sarmiento.

She said the complainant would usually file a case before the division office before it is elevated to the DepEd Secretary’s Office.

In the case against a school official of La Salle Greenhills (LSGH), the school falls within the jurisdiction of the DepEd’s Pasig and San Juan Division, which is under the National Capital Region. There are 14 divisions under the NCR.

However, when asked about the case involving Comelec Chairman Abalos, no DepEd official wanted to officially comment on it.

Meanwhile, The STAR was able to contact Principal Tamaca late yesterday afternoon.

Tamaca said she had tried calling up Abalos after their conversation last October 24.

However, since she was out of town, she was only able to make a return call to the office of Abalos on Oct. 29. She also tried on November 3, then again yesterday afternoon. She also said that she intended to call Abalos last Oct. 27.

In all instances, she said Abalos was not in his office. Tamaca said she was not able to return a call through her cellular phone, claiming her cell phone was not working.

Tamaca said she had already talked to the mother of Abalos’ grandson and explained to her what had happened.

Tamaca insisted there was nothing improper about the question since it was about current news which the public had already read about in the newspapers.

She admitted Abalos’ name was one of the choices, but noted it was not the correct answer. She said the questions were reviewed by an academic committee of the grade school of La Salle Greenhills and had passed their review.

Tamaca, meanwhile, refused to comment if indeed a complaint was formally filed against the LSGH or any of the school officials over the incident. — With Sandy Araneta