My Encounter with De La Salle Brother Armin Luistro

Ni Oggie Medina

When De La Salle Brother Armin Luistro makes a stand on a certain issue, he would rather think it very carefully.

“I don’t have all the right answers, but I think, it is the role of educational institutions to weigh things very carefully, to try to study. We can bring a sobering effect to the discussion, and that is where, in my own opinion, the Lasallian community can make a real contribution. The activists start going out of the streets. Before we do that, it is important that we weigh things very carefully. Written discussion can bring us to the level of reason so that we can discuss things and help the young people, especially, to understand the issues from a rational point of view,” the De La Salle brother points out.

Brother Armin admits that he did a lot of travels because of the nature of his work. He had been to the USA, Mexico, Italy, Australia and Asian countries like Japan, Indonesia, India, Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia. He really did not want traveling per se, but “I do that because of my work.”

As Provincial Superior, he visited different Lasallian schools and communities. He attended every year the Pacific-Asia Regional Conference (PARC).

In the past, he read books a lot when he was traveling. However, he could not do much reading nowadays because when “I travel (by land), I drive. When I travel, I don’t like to think too much.”

Tackling on educational issues, he seems to disagree that good education is an expensive education. “We’ve to spend more in order to make education accessible. But there can be many creative avenues where education can be served, not necessarily bringing in the poor to the campuses.”

He continues: “We’ve established the Lasallian Volunteer Program (LSVP) whereby Lasallian fresh graduates volunteer to teach in very poor communities, such as those in Canumay, Antipolo City, in Langilanon, Iligan City and in the fishing village of Sipalay, Negros Occidental where volunteers live in solidarity with the partner community and assist them through educational programs. There is also a group of 5 to 10 students who volunteer to teach in public schools.”

Sharing education does not need to be a formal education. That is indeed a challenge that the structure of poverty somehow be changed. “It would take a long while. You cannot just speak about your program for the poor but at the same time we cannot be a Mother
Teresa. I think the school can be a center where people could get involved.”

It is interesting to note that the Lasallian network of schools operates several free night school departments, a school for former street children and even a pre-school for poor kids as an outreach program of the College of Education of DLSU.

“It seems that the bourgeosie, or the burgis, image of La Sallites has metamorphosed or gone back into the original pursuit of Saint John Baptist De La Salle, the patron saint of teachers and the founder of the Christian Brothers, whose goal is really to educate the grass-root poor,” he explains.

He further says that, “As leaders, our role is always to challenge the existing paradigm, the existing practices not because we want things to be changed, not for changes sake. If an institution has reached the point where it can say, we are doing everything so well, I think that is the beginning of its decline. At every stage, an institution will have to be challenged internally, even by its own leaders. I’m not advocating that we change everything. No. Even for the exercise, it is worth-challenging, to challenge the existing paradigm… I suppose all managers will have to look at that from a wide perspective.”

Remarkably concludes Brother Armin, “Essentially, we cannot insulate students from life’s realities to ensure security. La Salle is not an enclave. The students cannot be isolated from what is happening. It would be a mistake to be complacent. What is important is for them to be aware and prepared for what is happening in and out of the campus, and part of education is to be able to understand what is happening outside. Beyond just the physical security that we provide to our students, we train our students to prevent violence, to think of their future. I have a conviction that the young people can do good things. The young people can actually be involved in social transformation now. We do not have to wait for these students to graduate to open the door for them to be involved in social transformation, for in fact they can already be participants in the transformation (of) society now. If we don’t tap the young people now, the possibility is that we will be able to do anything in the future. The more we are able to open doors to our students today, the greater is the possibility that they will be able to truly serve our country in the future.”

Pope Leo XIV recently appointed Filipino Brother Armin Luistro, Superior General of the De La Salle Brothers, to a key Vatican position. Specifically, he was named a member of the Dicastery for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and the Societies of Apostolic Life. This dicastery oversees religious orders and congregations within the Catholic Church.

After all Brother Armin Luistro has a history of leadership roles, and the dicastery he would now serve on is responsible for promoting, encouraging, and regulating consecrated life within the Church.