THE independent review panel (IRP) constituted by the British School of Manila (BSM) following the death of one of its students has repudiated its role in writing the report released by the school’s council of trustees.
The members of the IRP are Ed Chua, chairman of the Shell Companies in the Philippines; Steve DeKrey, president of the Asian Institute of Management; William Parker, school support and evaluation officer, Council of International Schools; Ulan Sarmiento III, dean of the San Beda Alabang School of Law; and Rochelle Dakanay Galano, a law professor at San Beda.
“That was not our report as written and it should not be attributed solely to us. We are issuing this statement as we have been approached by a number of parents who have children at BSM, thanking us for the work we have done but also asking if the released report is the same as our report,” Chua said in a statement on behalf of the IRP.
The report was released to the BSM community by Simon Bewlay, ex officio member of the BSM council of trustees and chairman of the board of governors.
Chua said that when the IRP sought clarification on why the released report was edited and abridged, the explanation given was that the council of trustees chose to use the IRP report as one of several inputs and modified the report for purposes of clarity.
However, the IRP believes that the authorship of the released report is misleading. The heading on the released report states that it is only sponsored by the Council of Trustees and lists the members of the IRP in a manner that implies their sole authorship.
“It does not cite the report’s final editors or its other sources. These points, taken together, would give the misleading impression that it is the report of the IRP as originally written,” the IRP report said.