Even earlier, the Department of Science and Technology also shot down her claim when the Inquirer began probing Faye's seemingly moving story.
Only 12 and a Grade 6 pupil from Quezon City, Faye Nicole San Juan, her mother Cathy and their church, the Bread of Life Ministries (BOLM), had told local media -- including the Inquirer -- that she had won first place in a competition in Brisbane, Australia, in September dubbed the International Science Quiz Net.
Bread of Life said in a letter to the Inquirer yesterday that it had conducted an investigation into the matter and would issue a public apology soon.
"We have determined that the story is not true," it said in the letter issued in the name of Rev. Sharon Valencia, Associate Pastor of the BOLM.
<>"Our heart goes out to a child like Faye whose mother is in deep emotional problems, the letter added. Valencia, in a talk with the Inquirer, said that Faye's mother appeared to be the one who thought up the entire story of her daughter winning the quiz bee.
Faye did not answer calls to her mobile phone yesterday, and her mother was out of the house when the Inquirer tried to reach them for comment.
A certain Menchee, who said she was Faye's aunt, said Cathy was at the Fatima College where she claimed to be studying nursing. She said Faye was still in school.
The DOST said it had tried "to validate the claims" made by Faye and her mother.
"'Unfortunately, the information we have gathered from various sources, including our professional counterpart in Australia, do not support the claims of Faye and her mother," said a faxed statement signed by Ester Ogena, director of the DOST's Science Education Institute (SEI).
Faye a no-show
Ogena said her agency also invited the San Juans through Arnel Salgado, the principal of St. James College, Faye's school in Quezon City, "to present valid proof of the girl's awards."
Faye had also reportedly won a Best in Physics Award in Sydney and landed in the Top 5 in a math contest in Indonesia.
"However, Ms San Juan declined the invitation," Ogena said.
"Although the SEI-DOST would like to give Faye the recognition befitting an outstanding young achiever in science and mathematics, we are constrained by the fact that her story as presented in the media lacks merit in terms of valid proofs and the absence of any indication that the competitions cited truly exist," Ogena added.
DOST never approached
In an interview, Science and Technology Secretary Estrella Alabastro said the San Juans did not give a reason for declining her agency's invitation for an interview, which had been set for last Wednesday.
Alabastro said it was Salgado who relayed the message that the San Juans couldn't come.
"I don't want to draw any inference on that," Alabastro said, when asked what she would make of the San Juans begging off.
She also clarified that the DOST was "never approached at all" by the San Juans for assistance concerning their supposed Australia trip at the time when they claimed they were refused help by government officials here and abroad.
She stressed this point, noting that "we (the DOST) are the ones being maligned" by those who heard Faye's story and thought the DOST was among the agencies that turned down the San Juans' supposed request for support.
Tale of travails
Faye's story has been circulating on the Internet, featured in media reports including a frontpage story in the Inquirer last Tuesday, and backed by the Bread of Life Ministries, a Christian fellowship of which the San Juans are members.
According to the San Juans, Faye bested 56 other students all over the world in the Brisbane tilt. On the way to and during competition, though, mother and daughter -- by their own accounts -- met a series of mishaps before reaping success.
They said they were robbed of a piece of luggage at the hotel in Australia, the supposed suspect being a fellow Filipino who purportedly befriended them on the plane and offered them help in finding cheap lodgings.
This forced them to pawn a newly bought pair of shoes and old winter clothes just to have cash for food and hotel, they had said.
Validating Faye's claim
Lacking money for transport, their story went on, they walked for 2 kilometers to the contest venue. But they still won -- they said -- the "Most Creative Booth" award, a side event to the science contest, using as decor the Filipiniana costume they had brought along.
Ogena said that the DOST had a "validation procedure" in place "to verify awards received by individuals for competitions which are not coordinated by the (Science Education) Institute."
The department had been alerted to Faye's story and did the countercheck "in line with the agency's mandate to support, nurture, and recognize talents in science, mathematics and technology," Ogena said.
"We had no information about the contest," Alabastro said. "Even the Australian Embassy had no information. We really do validation so we can give appropriate recognition (to the child achievers); we even bring them to Malaca–ang."
No records at airport, DFA
An immigration officer at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport said that the names Cathy and Faye Nicole San Juan did not appear in their computer departure records last Sept. 17.
He said that unless they used different names in their passports and tickets, the San Juans could not have left the country on that date.
The names of the San Juans also did not appear in their departure records from September to November, the officer said.
Officials at the Department of Foreign Affairs also said Faye and her mother had not applied for passports.
"We have not received an application for passport with those names. Our data don't show it," foreign affairs spokesperson Gilberto Asuque said, referring to their computer database.
The Philippine and Japanese embassies in Sydney, Australia, have also no record that the San Juans ever sought assistance from them during their "difficult moments," officials said.
"The consulate in Sydney is always ready to extend assistance provided they call, either to the police or the Filipino community. We have not received any call. How can we extend assistance to them?" Asuque said.
"There was no call. If the police requested assistance, we were ready ... We will extend assistance provided we were made aware of it," he added.
No such case
Cathy had lamented that she and her daughter had sought help from Filipino officials in Australia, but they were too busy to help.
"We have no such case," Shuhei Ogawa, spokesperson and second secretary of the Japanese Embassy in Manila, said when asked if the Japanese foreign ministry had any record of the San Juans seeking assistance at either the Japanese Embassy in Sydney or consulate in Brisbane.
He said that if the San Juans had indeed called the Japanese Embassy in Sydney for assistance, they would have been referred just the same to the Philippine Embassy there.
Faye had claimed that after she won the contest, she skipped the awarding ceremony because she and her mother had to call the Japanese Embassy for assistance.
The BOLM's letter of apology will be read in all services of all Bread of Life outreaches in the country. The church has more than 20 outreaches in Luzon alone.
With reports from Margaux C. Ortiz and TJ Burgonio
