Not recognized by government

Batas Mauricio

A GROUP of pastors from several Born Again churches met with me on Tuesday, and they confirmed to me once more that something sinister is really going on in this country when it comes to teaching our children about the Bible, about righteousness, and about spirituality.

You see, these pastors constitute the leadership of a group called the Association of Christian Educators of the Philippines or Ascep. Ever since I was introduced to Ascep some time in 2010 or thereabouts, they have been complaining about not-so-discreet attempts to “persecute” them, with the end in view of closing the elementary and high schools operated by their churches.

Ascep, by the way, is the organization of schools owned and managed by Born Again pastors and churches. In 1996, they were given a special permit to operate by the then Education Secretary Ricardo Gloria, which enabled them to put up modest schools in equally modest, if not more modest, facilities, to teach basically the children of their members.

The objective of the schools was not just to teach what the other public and private schools had been teaching. They are also deep into teaching spirituality, righteousness, and biblical principles, particularly the lives of biblical characters whose unwavering faith in God allowed them to triumph at all cost, which is something that has been removed from mainstream education in our country.

These Christian schools, which have banded together and formed Ascep, provide great help to the government in terms of decongesting the already-burgeoning public and private school system, precisely because children who enrolled with them no longer join the millions who jam public and private schools every school opening.

Then, too, Christian schools tremendously contribute to the molding of law-abiding and God-fearing citizens, not only among the children who are taught by them the teachings of God in the Bible, but also the parents of their children who are encouraged to study the Word of God, too, so they can continue providing spiritual guidance to their kids even at home.

So, one would think that the government, particularly the Aquino government, should be doing all it can to help these Christian schools to thrive and to succeed in their operations, correct? The answer should of course be a resounding “yes.” Unfortunately, however, the education officials of the Aquino government are doing the reverse.

Instead of helping the Christian schools, the Aquino government is “persecuting” them. Right now, for instance, the Department of Education under Catholic priest Bro. Armin Luistro, is refusing to honor the special permit given by Gloria to the Christian schools for them to operate, excluding them from its list of accredited schools. What is more, the Deped is refusing to recognize the graduates of these Christian schools.

Luistro should be reminded that there are laws in the Philippines, including the Constitution itself, that safeguard the teaching of religion to elementary and high school students. He should therefore reconsider his stand against Born Again Christian schools, and allow them to continue operating under the permit given to them by Gloria.

E-mail: batasmauricio@yahoo.com