RIYADH, 10 May 2004 — Here’s bad news that may set back Sen. Loren Legarda-Leviste’s bid for the vice presidency.
Recently, Loren and husband ex-Batangas Governor Antonio Leviste reportedly requested Ateneo de Manila to adjust the grade of their son in one subject from 84 to 85 so that he could graduate with honors from Grade Seven.
“Ateneo refused so Lorenzo Antonio Leviste graduated in absentia and his parents boycotted the graduation rites,” said a parent, who was invited recently to administer the alumni oath to Ateneo de Manila’s grade seven graduates.
The parent was being quoted in an e-mail sent to Arab News by a former Filipino newspaper editor, Edwin Santos, who was formerly with the defunct Riyadh Daily. He’s now in Manila. (Rodolfo Estimo Jr.)
“Because Ateneo did not compromise its own standards of academic excellence, the parents to whom I narrated this incident were impressed with the resolve of the school to stand up to parents regardless of their stature,” the parent said.
He added that they “were saddened by the values that Loren and her husband are teaching the boy.”
