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Brother A brother is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to non-famil ...
Armin Altamirano Luistro, FSC (born December 24, 1961) is a Filipino Lasallian Brother who served as
secretary A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a ...
of the
Department of Education of the Philippines The Department of Education (abbreviated as DepEd; fil, Kagawaran ng Edukasyon) is the executive department of the Philippine government responsible for ensuring access to, promoting equity in, and improving the quality of basic education. It ...
under President
Benigno Aquino III Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino III (; February 8, 1960 – June 24, 2021), also known as Noynoy Aquino and colloquially as PNoy, was a Filipino politician who served as the 15th president of the Philippines from 2010 to 2016. The son of ...
. Luistro entered De La Salle Scholasticate (the center for academic training of
De La Salle Brothers french: Frères des Écoles Chrétiennes , image = Signum Fidei.jpg , image_size = 175px , caption = , abbreviation = FSC , nickname = Lasallians , named_after = , formation ...
) in
Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital city, capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is Cities of the Philippines#Independent cities, highly urbanize ...
on April 1979 while he was studying in
De La Salle University De La Salle University ( fil, Pamantasang De La Salle or Unibersidad ng De La Salle), also referred to as DLSU, De La Salle or La Salle, is a private, Catholic coeducational research university run by the Institute of the Brothers of the Chris ...
(DLSU). He received the
religious habit A religious habit is a distinctive set of religious clothing worn by members of a religious order. Traditionally some plain garb recognizable as a religious habit has also been worn by those leading the religious eremitic and anchoritic life, ...
of the
congregation A congregation is a large gathering of people, often for the purpose of worship. Congregation may also refer to: * Church (congregation), a Christian organization meeting in a particular place for worship * Congregation (Roman Curia), an adminis ...
on October 1981 at the La Salle Novitiate in Lipa. He professed his first
religious vows Religious vows are the public vows made by the members of religious communities pertaining to their conduct, practices, and views. In the Buddhism tradition, in particular within the Mahayana and Vajrayana tradition, many different kinds of re ...
on October 1982, and his final vows on May 1988. He started teaching as a religion teacher at De La Salle Lipa in 1983. He was made provincial of the De La Salle Brothers Philippine District on April 1997, a post he held until 2003. On August 26, 2000, Luistro co-founded the De La Salle Catholic University Manado, in
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
with Josef Suwatan, Roman Catholic Bishop of Manado. On April 2004, he succeeded
Andrew Gonzalez Brother Andrew Benjamin Gonzalez, F.S.C. (29 February 1940 – 29 January 2006) was a Filipino linguist, writer, educator, and a De La Salle Brother. He served as president of De La Salle University from 1979 to 1991 and from 1994 to 1998. Fr ...
as the president of De La Salle University System, consequently making him the president of eight De La Salle institutions. He worked into establishing De La Salle Philippines (DLSP) which replaced the system. The DLSP National Mission Council appointed him DLSP President and Chief Executive Officer on November 29, 2005. He was appointed as the Secretary of Education of the Philippines on June 30, 2010, becoming the second De La Salle
brother A brother is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to non-famil ...
to hold the post—the other was Gonzalez who was in office from 1998 to 2001. Luistro has the least net worth among Aquino's cabinet. He had ₱89,000 (US$2,060). In contrast, the richest— Cesar Purisima who is
Secretary of Finance The Secretariat of the Treasury and Public Credit ( es, Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público, SHCP) is the finance ministry of Mexico. The Secretary of the Treasury is the head of the department, and is a member of the federal executive ...
—had ₱252 million (US$5.84 million). The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) have expressed skepticism over Luistro's stand on
sex education Sex education, also known as sexual education, sexuality education or sex ed, is the instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, including emotional relations and responsibilities, human sexual anatomy, sexual activity, sexual reproduct ...
citing his religious background. Nevertheless, the Department of Education has included sex education in its curriculum for grade 5 to fourth year high school.
Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
groups have criticized it for allegedly not covering the emotional, psychological and spiritual dimensions of sexuality. Luistro is a major proponent of the K+12 Basic Education Program in the Philippines. The program sought to add two years to the previous 10-year basic education curriculum. Numerous parties had opposed the plan including
Ateneo de Manila University , mottoeng = Light in the Lord , type = Private, research, non-profit, coeducational basic and higher education institution , established = December 10, 1859 , religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic (Jesuits) , academic_aff ...
President Bienvenido Nebres and
progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...
groups of students, teachers and parents.


Educational background

Luistro was born on December 24, 1961, to José Dimayuga Luistro and Magdalena Aranda Altamirano-Luistro in Lipa, Batangas, Philippines. He attended first grade at Our Lady of the Rosary Academy in Lipa, grades 2 to 5 at
Canossa Academy Lipa Canossa Academy is a school in Lipa City, Batangas, Philippines. It is one of the four schools owned and administered by the Canossian Sisters, who belong to the religious congregation named the Canossian Daughters of Charity which originated in ...
, and graduated elementary and
high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
at De La Salle Lipa. He pursued his undergraduate studies at De La Salle University in Manila under a scholarship, and was conferred
Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...
in Philosophy and Letters on March 1981. When asked in a ''
Manila Bulletin The ''Manila Bulletin'' (), (also known as the ''Bulletin'' and previously known as the ''Manila Daily Bulletin'' from 1906 to September 23, 1972, and the ''Bulletin Today'' from November 22, 1972, to March 10, 1986) is the Philippines' largest ...
'' interview in 2009, he shared that he had spent most of his education in Batangas, and since DLSU had no uniforms, he "wore all the ''badúy'' nfashionabletype of shirts", as he put it, using the
Tagalog Tagalog may refer to: Language * Tagalog language, a language spoken in the Philippines ** Old Tagalog, an archaic form of the language ** Batangas Tagalog, a dialect of the language * Tagalog script, the writing system historically used for Tagal ...
word for "unfashionable", while most of his classmates were from elite high schools. Thus he says "I supposed heylaughed at me." In 1981 he entered into a program in
Ateneo de Manila University , mottoeng = Light in the Lord , type = Private, research, non-profit, coeducational basic and higher education institution , established = December 10, 1859 , religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic (Jesuits) , academic_aff ...
, and was awarded a Certificate in Formation Institute for Religious Educators in 1985. He enrolled in a graduate program in DLSU in 1991, and was conferred a
Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. ...
degree in Religious Education in 1993. He also graduated with a master's degree in religious education and values formation at the same university in 2003. He was conferred a doctorate degree in educational management on May 2005 from the University of St. La Salle in Bacolod. He was made
Doctor of Humane Letters The degree of Doctor of Humane Letters (; DHumLitt; DHL; or LHD) is an honorary degree awarded to those who have distinguished themselves through humanitarian and philanthropic contributions to society. The criteria for awarding the degree diffe ...
, ''
honoris causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad h ...
'', by
La Salle University La Salle University () is a private, Catholic university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The university was founded in 1863 by the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools and named for St. Jean-Baptiste de La Salle. History L ...
in
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
,
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...
,
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
on May 9, 2004.


Religious and academic career

Luistro entered the De La Salle Scholasticate (the center for academic training of De La Salle Brothers) in Manila on April 1979, and received the
religious habit A religious habit is a distinctive set of religious clothing worn by members of a religious order. Traditionally some plain garb recognizable as a religious habit has also been worn by those leading the religious eremitic and anchoritic life, ...
on October 1981 at the La Salle Novitiate in Lipa. He professed his first
religious vows Religious vows are the public vows made by the members of religious communities pertaining to their conduct, practices, and views. In the Buddhism tradition, in particular within the Mahayana and Vajrayana tradition, many different kinds of re ...
on October 1982, and his final vows on May 1988. In the ''Manila Bulletin'' interview, he said that teaching was the reason why he entered the congregation. He started teaching as a religion teacher at De La Salle Lipa in 1983. He moved to La Salle Greenhills in 1986. He was made provincial of the De La Salle Brothers Philippine District on April 1997, a post he held until 2003. On August 26, 2000, Luistro co-founded the De La Salle Catholic University of Manado, currently known as De La Salle University, in Indonesia with Josef Suwatan, Roman Catholic Bishop of Manado. DLSU in Manila supervised initial operations before it was transferred to the Philippine District. On April 2004, he succeeded Andrew Gonzalez as the president of De La Salle University System, consequently making him the president of eight De La Salle institutions. In his inaugural speech, he acknowledged the "multiversity" concept of Gonzalez who established the system. In which structure, DLSU served as the flagship while other De La Salle institutions specialized in fields like
agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peop ...
, alternative education and
medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, and Health promotion ...
. He did, however, find the system's structure unfeasible. He worked into establishing De La Salle Philippines which replaced the system. Under the reorganization, other De La Salle institutions were included in the network—a total of 17. Each De La Salle institution was autonomous and had its own president. The DLSP National Mission Council appointed him DLSP President and
Chief Executive Officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...
on November 29, 2005.


Political involvement

Luistro called for the resignation of President
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal Arroyo (, born April 5, 1947), often referred to by her initials GMA, is a Filipino academic and politician serving as one of the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines, House Deputy Spe ...
during the height of the
Hello Garci scandal The Hello Garci scandal (or just Hello Garci), also known as Gloriagate, was a political scandal and electoral crisis in the Philippines. The scandal involved former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who allegedly rigged the 2004 national ...
in 2005. In which time, he became close to the Aquino family, a prominent political family in the
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
. He also delivered a
eulogy A eulogy (from , ''eulogia'', Classical Greek, ''eu'' for "well" or "true", ''logia'' for "words" or "text", together for "praise") is a speech or writing in praise of a person or persons, especially one who recently died or retired, or a ...
(named ''Cory, the Heart of a Saint'') during the
wake Wake or The Wake may refer to: Culture *Wake (ceremony), a ritual which takes place during some funeral ceremonies *Wakes week, an English holiday tradition * Parish Wake, another name of the Welsh ', the fairs held on the local parish's patron s ...
of former President
Corazon Aquino Maria Corazon "Cory" Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino (; ; January 25, 1933 – August 1, 2009) was a Filipina politician who served as the 11th president of the Philippines from 1986 to 1992. She was the most prominent figure of the 1986 People ...
, and said "our closeness with her was really borne out of that period
ello Garci scandal Ello ( Brianzöö: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Lecco in the Italian region Lombardy, located about northeast of Milan and about southwest of Lecco. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,202 and an area of .A ...
none of her children went to La Salle."


Work at the Department of Education

President
Benigno Aquino III Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino III (; February 8, 1960 – June 24, 2021), also known as Noynoy Aquino and colloquially as PNoy, was a Filipino politician who served as the 15th president of the Philippines from 2010 to 2016. The son of ...
, Corazon's son, appointed him as the
secretary A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a ...
of the Department of Education. He was inaugurated on June 30, 2010, becoming the second De La Salle brother to hold the post—the other was Gonzalez who was in office from 1998 to 2001. Aquino gave Luistro two years to address problems, including insufficient books, classrooms and teachers. Luistro estimates a lack of 130,000 teachers, 72,000 classrooms, 7 million desks, 141,000 comfort rooms and 96 million books. As of December 2010, Luistro has the least net worth among Aquino's
cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...
. He had
The Philippine peso sign (₱) is the currency symbol used for the Philippine peso, the official currency of the Philippines. The symbol resembles a Roman letter P with two horizontal strokes. It differs from the currency symbol used for the pe ...
89,000 (US$2,060).Approximate conversion value as of June 2011 In contrast, the richest— Cesar Purisima who is
Secretary of Finance The Secretariat of the Treasury and Public Credit ( es, Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público, SHCP) is the finance ministry of Mexico. The Secretary of the Treasury is the head of the department, and is a member of the federal executive ...
—had ₱252 million (US$5.84 million). He declared an annual gross salary of ₱989,496 (US$22,900).


Sex education

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) have expressed skepticism over Luistro's stand on
sex education Sex education, also known as sexual education, sexuality education or sex ed, is the instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, including emotional relations and responsibilities, human sexual anatomy, sexual activity, sexual reproduct ...
citing his religious background. Meanwhile, Luistro's predecessor,
Mona Valisno Mona may refer to: People *Mona (name), a female given name, nickname and surname *Mona (Angolan footballer) (born 1997) *Mona, ring name of American wrestler Nora Greenwald Museums * Museum of Nebraska Art, Kearney, Nebraska, US *Museum of Neo ...
expressed her confidence with Luistro. The Department of Education has included sex education in its curriculum for grade 5 to fourth year high school.
Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
groups have criticized it for allegedly not covering the emotional, psychological and spiritual dimensions of sexuality. Likewise, former Roman Catholic Archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan
Oscar V. Cruz Oscar Valero Cruz, (17 November 1934 – 26 August 2020) was a Filipino prelate of the Catholic Church in the Philippines. He was the Archbishop of Lingayen–Dagupan in Pangasinan, Philippines, from 1991 to 2009. Biography Oscar Cruz was b ...
criticized Luistro for his alleged lack of comment regarding the Reproductive Health Bill, which proposes to integrate sex education in public schools. He appealed Luistro to "stop teaching lewd studies ex educationin schools" (trans.). Luistro stated that sex education was not his priority. He instead wanted to focus on streamlining the bureaucracy of DepEd, which employs 600,000 employees (501,158 of which are teachers). In line with this, he announced on December 28, 2010, that DepEd would terminate all of its 67 consultants by the end of the year. The DepEd-National Employees Union, in response, has called for his resignation. Luistro argued, however, that "streamlining is a must" as bulk of the department's budget goes to funding the salary of its employees.


K+12 Basic Education Program

Luistro is a major proponent of the K+12 Basic Education Program in the Philippines. The program seeks to add two years to the current 10-year basic education curriculum, and make graduates more competitive. The program involves
kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...
, six years of elementary, four years of
junior high school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school ...
, and two years of senior high school. Kindergarten was required in 2012 while senior high school is planned to be included in the curriculum by 2016. DepEd said that 77 percent of its participants in fora are in favor of the change. Before its implementation in 2012, the Philippines was the only country in
Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an ...
which employed 10 years of basic education—all other countries had 12. Numerous parties have opposed the plan including
Ateneo de Manila University , mottoeng = Light in the Lord , type = Private, research, non-profit, coeducational basic and higher education institution , established = December 10, 1859 , religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic (Jesuits) , academic_aff ...
President Bienvenido Nebres and
progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...
groups of students, teachers and parents. A spokesperson of No To K–12 Alliance said:


Indigenous framework of education

Luistro signed on behalf of the Deped the national policy framework for
Indigenous peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
education in 2011. The framework aims to address Indigenous peoples' lack of access to "culture-responsive basic education". The framework directs DepEd offices and units to ensure that textbooks and other learning materials are free from discriminatory and erroneous content that misrepresent the history and culture of Indigenous peoples.


References


External links


De La Salle University

De La Salle Alumni Association

Philippine Lasallian Family

De La Salle Philippines

Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools
, - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Luistro, Armin 1961 births Living people Ateneo de Manila University alumni De La Salle Brothers in the Philippines De La Salle University alumni Filipino Roman Catholics Secretaries of Education of the Philippines People from Lipa, Batangas Roman Catholic religious brothers Benigno Aquino III administration cabinet members Presidents of universities and colleges in the Philippines Visayan people