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July 9, 2010
One week after his appointment as Education Secretary, Bro. Armin Luistro, who was president of De La Salle University before his appointment, issued an anti media statement that elicited a strong response from no less than the National Press Club of the Philippines. Secretary Luistro’s controversial statement reportedly happened after his swearing in ceremony when he snapped at a Radio dzMM reporter in answer to the latter’s question if he is in favor of implementing sex education in the country’s public elementary and high schools. The Secretary’s response was, “Wag ninyo akong tanungin, dahil kayong media hindi kayo nakakatulong.”
(“Don’t ask me because you, the media, you don’t help anyway!)
The teaching of sex education in elementary and high schools, which was championed by Luistro’s predecessor, Mona Valisno, is a hot button issue that has recently sent the media buzzing especially
with the appointment of someone from the Catholic Church. Understandably, the media wondered about the fate of Valisno’s sex education given that her successor comes from a directly opposite orientation.
And if anything could be gleaned from the new secretary’s brash display of emotion, it might well mean the end of the line for proponents of sex education program in public schools.
What the Secretary failed to recognize is the apparent role of the media, their social responsibility attached to their press freedom. In their exercise of press freedom, broadcast and print journalists are motivated by their social responsibility, their obligation to truth, justice and the greater good.
In the statement, the NPC asked the new Education Secretary to give respect to press freedom, use it as the most effective tool for good governance, and enjoy it as a free forum for exchange of opinions among all stakeholders to lead to the formation of ideas necessary to improve the quality of learning among the children.
The NPC said it understands Secretary Luistro when he blamed the media on the botched program to incorporate sex education to all schoolchildren. He has not been used to dealing with journalists in his career as a leader of the community of private-sector educators.
He was serving as president of De La Salle University (DLSU) when President Benigno Aquino III plucked him out of his comfort zone to be the head of the Department of Education. However, the NPC said it expects Luistro to see soon the beauty and the significance of the free exercise of the liberty of the press as his guiding light to clearly distinguish problems in his department to be able to identify effective solutions.
The NPC subscribes to the doctrine that there must be a marketplace of ideas to let contrasting opinions and facts to clash against each other in the never-ending search for truth. If the introduction of sex education in public schools is to be the centerpiece of his first year in office as Department of Education Secretary, Luistro must give the public no reason to doubt his ability to execute his duties and make decisions with undeniable objectivity and fairness.
Given his background though, if he does shelve sex education, he can shout fairness and objectivity till his face is blue but he’ll never get the public to believe him so.