( Posted by Frenchie)
Parents and alumni of the Fr. Duenas Memorial School are up in arms at the rumor that the well respected Principal of this school is being put aside by the Chancery.
A petition has been launched on Change.org, to try to convince the Chancery of their errors.
Unfortunately from the information we have gathered, this looks like a futile effort. (We still would
encourage everyone who believes in the good job done by Mr Perez, to continue signing the petition)
We shall endeavor to make things as clear as possible for our readers, and the parents of
Fr, Duenas Memorial School.
In the process, we are going to show you that the bad habits and corrupt ways of the Apuron administration, have not gone as some of us would have liked to happen. Rather, they have been replaced by a system as bad and as corrupted as the previous one, and perhaps more dangerous, because it is more pernicious and more devious in many regards.
From what it looks like, we might have to pick our pilgrim's stick and our shields back up, to ensure that the bad old days are not returning again.
Fr. Duenas well respected and appreciated principal, Mr Ismael Perez aka "Temo", who has been in charge of the school since the passing of his predecessor, Mr Tony Thompson, was looking to renew his contract which expires earlier this coming summer. Unbeknown to him, Mr Juan Flores, the superintendent of the Catholic Schools of the Archdiocese of Agana had other ideas in mind.
Apparently Mr Flores had been planning to give that job to his childhood friend and former classmate, Mr Dennis Malilay.
The problem here is two fold.
1) the decision was taken without notifying Mr Perez, letting him totally in the dark
2) The Job opening was never posted for anyone to apply for, as is customary and legal
To add insult to injury, the taking over of his duties by Mr Malilay has been scheduled to take place before the end of Mr Perez's contract.
Some of you might remember that Mr Flores nomination as school superintendent had not been greeted with great enthusiasm, mostly because of the lack of openness by the Chancery during his hiring process. Yet, during this time, many faithful were more worried about other issues, and did not pay much attention to it.
The fact that the Superintendent of the Catholic schools could be so arrogant and dismissive of the Archdiocese own rules and mission statements, without mentioning the total lack of Christian Charity and decency one could and should expect, from the leader of one of the most important agency of the Archdiocese, is very shocking in itself. Yet, it will become even more shocking when you find out, how this was possible.
The least we can say about superintendent Flores, is that his batting average is pretty low.
Most recently he was spurned for his decision to fire a school principal. The director of the parochial school of St Anthony, St Victor is Mr Crisostomo. At the time of his appointment Junglewatch was critical of the decision, because his brother: Fr Michael Crisostomo (the priest that wants to be loved) was and still is the Pastor to the Parish of St Anthony, St Victor. The conflict of interest was obvious from the get go, except for Fr Crisostomo, the Superintendent and the Chancery.
Human relationships being what they are, a conflict soon arose, because the school director refused to take directions and suggestions from Mr Flores. In other words, they did not have a working relationship. This situation boiled to a point where, the superintendent had no other options, but to fire Mr Crisostomo.That was without counting on our Pari system. Of course the Pastor of St Anthony did not agree with that decision, and the school board spurred by its president (who happens to be a close friend of the pastor) re-instated Mr Crisostomo.
To say the least, the reputation of Mr Flores took a big dive, after that incident. The problem of course was that the superintendent in this case was setup to fail, by the people who gave him the job.
One name to remember is Fr Ronald Richards,JCL
The old adage accepted by most people with a minimum of work experience, is that "Governing is anticipating". As we shall see the Archdiocese of Guam is poorly governed, because it is so arrogant in its approach, that it refuses to anticipate any contrary view of what Fr Richards proposes and advances.
In the case of Fr Duenas Memorial School, the parents of the children entrusted to this institution are very distraught, because they expect their sons to be the primary concern of the School, the Superintendent and the Archdiocese. In the Archdiocese mission statement: " the Catholic Schools of the Archdiocese of Agana will":
*Educate the whole child through Gospel values and traditions of the Catholic Church.
*Foster a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
* Guide its members to encounter the living God through service.
How can you look at these parents with a straight face, and push that narrative, when the actions of Mr Juan Flores and Fr Ronald Richards belied everything in this statement?
On a more technical and pragmatical manner, Mr Perez (aka Temo) has not been treated ethically on the professional and legal level. In fact, if you refer to the Human Resources of the Archdiocese of Agana:
"The Archdiocese of Agana advocates the mission of Jesus Christ who called followers to lead a just life. In fidelity to that mission, the office of Human Resources strives for justice in employment practices and promotes fair employment opportunity for all persons in recruitment, hiring, training, transfer, promotion, layoff, recall, leave of absence, compensation, and separation from employment."
Judging by the actions of the representatives of the Archdiocese, there is a huge gap between the beautiful, brotherly, almost woke statement of mission, and the reality of how it deals with its own employees. The hypocrisy is so blatant, that one might wonder if the Archbishop is aware of the actions of the people he entrusted with the daily operations of the Archdiocese? That will be the subject of another article to come up shortly.
Here we have two cases in which the rules of the Archdiocese have not been followed, where personal connections override what is obvious and right, at the detriment of the children entrusted to the Catholic schools, by parents who often work very hard to pay for increasingly onerous tuition.
Perhaps it is time to make your dissatisfaction known to the Chancery.
Human resources: Jenisse T Shimizu
Tel: +1(671) 562-0021
Email: jshimizu@archagana.org
Superintendent of Catholic Education: Mr Juan Flores
Tel: +1(671) 562-0051
Email: superintendent@archagana.org
In our next edition: What you should know about Fr Richards and why.
WOW!!! INTERESTING REVEAL!
ReplyDeleteKeep those comments comments. but please keep them factual and simply report and not be perceived as a partisan voice. We would likely support the right course of action for our Alma Mater and community if if an objective case is presented.
ReplyDeleteDear Unknown, junglewatch is a blog, and not a news organization. We have been fighting corruption and abuse in the Archdiocese of Guam for nearly 10 years, by bringing information out to the light that none of the news organization would, because they either did not care, or they had a partisan bias. Over these years, many Catholics have learned to trust us, because despite all the attacks, all the innuendos, all the denials and more we have ended getting the trust of the Catholics who cared about what happened to our Church, its schools, it employees and its students. While the lukewarm people stayed on the side, and waited patiently for the dust to settle, many courageous, often elderly and very young took to the pavement and to their keyboard to eject the rot from our Archdiocese. As Cardinal Mercier (the head of the Belgium church during WWII) famously declared: "When prudence is everywhere, courage is nowhere". nough said
DeleteIt is about time someone exposed crisosotomo for what he really is. These guys are more devious as you say. It is earth shattering the things I hear among the parishoners. As a parent I made it clear that there was a conflict of interest regarding his then non practicing Catholic brother who by the way needs to get off of his high horse. This guy is just abnoxious at meetings with the other principals when he does not get his way.To make mayters worse, the school board president has fr mike by rhe balls, why not, she lavishes him with gifts. Aks anyone in the tamuning church who provides the decors. By theway, speaking to a former seminarian no longer in Guam, he warnsd me about trusting that sidekick of fr mike, theother priest who does his dirty laundry with online projects, since he apprently is a computer technician who cannot preach a decent homily if his life depended on it. We were happy when neos left, but these guys running the chancery office are dangerously sneaky. Snakes! Don't let that "please love me because I'm a victim" smile fool you. I had to get these feelings out. I held on to them for a little while now and I thank you forbringing it to light because I realize I am not alone in seeing this.
ReplyDeleteHello anonymous at 6.44pm, many people not just yourself were flabbergasted at the appointment of Pale Crisostomo's own brother as the school director. This was an obvious conflict of interest at so many levels, and the dangers of having an issue like we did a few weeks back was highly likely. As far as that individual being highly arrogant, it is not surprising, when you think, and are now confirmed as untouchable.
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned that you were happy when the neos left. The rude fact is that they really never did. In fact Saint Anthony is a refuge for many of the presbyters. I will write something about that issue later. The Neos are still very present, more discreet in many regards, but very much here and very active. Actually Pale Mike seems to be getting out of his way to facilitate their return to the forefront of the Archdiocese, specially thanks to his position as Vicar for Clergy