A Matter of Religion
The Opus Dei ‘invades’ the Philippine Science High School
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BY GEMMA B. BAGAYAUA, NEWSBREAK
It would seem that the Opus Dei, the Roman Catholic group known for its deep orthodoxy, has become a powerful presence at the country’s premier science high school. Almost one-fourth of the 80 faculty members at the main campus of the Philippine Science High School (PSHS) are believed to be members of the religious organization, causing alarm among some alumni and teachers.
Already, these critics say, there are telltale signs of the group influencing even the school’s policiesâ€"an allegation that the affiliation of the PSHS system’s executive director doesn’t help dispel. Dr. Ramon Miranda is a devout Opus Dei member.
To critics, the issue poses problems particularly given the school’s mandate to provide the country’s best and brightest with an education centered on math and science. After all, how could a teacher who belongs to a group highly critical of the works of Sigmund Freud and Charles Darwin motivate the future scientific cadres of the land to embark in intrepid explorations of the natural sciences?
NEWSBREAK tried to set an interview with Miranda and Diliman OIC campus director Jessamyn Yazon concerning these matters but we were told that they were busy planning for the school opening. Interview questions e-mailed to Yazon went unanswered, while the e-mail sent to the address posted on the PSHS Web site bounced.
By itself, recruitment of students to the Opus Dei is not a problem, according to Joel Garduce, former representative of the alumni association to the Board of Trustees. The problem is if the recruitment is premised on a hidden agenda. The Opus Dei, he said, may be trying to gain influence at an early age with future technocrats who will most likely hold influential positions in government. “Why ‘Pisay’? Is the motivation religious or political?"
There are teachers who use Opus Dei materials in teaching such subjects as literature, critics allege. Roman Catholic prayers are sometimes said before classes. A mass was said during the baccalaureate proceedings.
Kevin, a recent graduate, recalls receiving disapproving comments from a teacher when she saw him reading Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code. There are even teachers who give out incentives for those attending retreats. “Some students feel they have to go through this to earn extra points," he said.
Trustee Rene Abad, a Methodist, pointed out that the PSHS is supposed to be a non-sectarian school. “Walang kinikilingan dapat na [It shouldn’t be supporting any] religion or sect." But this is not what is happening, he said.
A case in point is the chapel that has been set up inside the boy’s dormitory. “At the time it was presented in 2001, the concept was an adoration room that caters to all beliefs." This is not what happened eventually. Inside the chapel now are patently Roman Catholic emblems, among them an image of the Virgin Mary. The chaplain is a PSHS alumnus who happens to be Opus Dei as well.
If the school must allow religious groups to recruit, the school must provide everyone with an even playing field, Garduce said. “Why isn’t there an imam or a representative of indigenous peoples?"
Teacher recruitment
To critics, the fact that the number of members of this Catholic minority group in the school’s faculty has swelled to such a figure also raises questions on recruitment. After all, the school’s executive director, Miranda, is a member of the Opus Dei. All appointments go through the executive director before they are eventually given the final stamp of approval by the school’s trusteesâ€"who often see the applicant’s papers only during the actual board meetings.
Members of the faculty interviewed by NEWSBREAK deny that Miranda’s religious convictions have affected school policies.
Ana Chupungco, a teacher with the school’s computer science unit, denies that there is a marked bias for one religion inside the PSHS. It just so happened, she said, that most of the students are Catholic and that they have an active chaplain. “The Christians do not do anything about it. If they request, I am sure they will also be given their own prayer room."
There are teachers who have tendencies to proselytize within their classrooms, Chupungco admits, but it is not only the Opus Dei who do this. Christian teachers do it, too. Further, she said, such overt religiosity is also not tolerated by fellow faculty members. Teachers actively discourage their peers from displaying any marked bias for one religion; “You can say the ‘Our Father,’ but saying ‘Hail Mary’ is another matter because not everybody believes in Mary."
The same thing goes for teacher recruitment, Chupungco said. The executive director does have a hand in the screening process, but the initial screening is done by the different units.
A more likely explanation for the increase in the number of Opus Dei members among the faculty ranks, Chupungco said, is that since the group already has members inside the school, they are able to alert their friends immediately whenever there is an opening.
Another PSHS teacher, Gene Andres, agrees. “Because they live in communities they know immediately who is available at any given time and who will fit a particular job opening."
To stress this point, Andres, a Christian, points out that some of the Opus Dei faculty members even turned out to be critical of Miranda’s policies, which should belie suspicions that they were hired by the school because of his influence.
Still, there may have been a few instances when Miranda’s religious preference did affect hiring. Abad, who represents the alumni on the board of trustees, recalls an incident sometime between June and August 2005, when school management recommended for hiring a candidate who performed poorly in psychological examinations administered by the school. The examinations were supposed to gauge the applicants’ level of intelligence.
Abad recalled wondering at that time why the administration was pushing for someone who seemed unqualified for the post. “I saw that she was from the University of Asia and the Pacific, so I asked if she was Opus Dei." The applicant was eventually rejected.
In another instance, an applicant was allegedly rejected because she happened to be a single mother, despite the fact that the screening committee gave her favorable ratings. Schools owned by the Opus Dei are known for their policy of rejecting even students of unmarried or separated parents.
No to interfaith
There is also a strong opposition to forms of interfaith worship, according to Andres. Back in 2005, some Catholic teachers suggested an ecumenical retreat based on The Purpose-Driven Life, the bestselling book authored by a Protestant pastor. But the opposition came mainly from the parents, Andres recalled. Rather than take this course, according to Andres, “there are those who suggested that we turn it into a leadership camp instead, rather than a retreat."
For now, retreats for Catholic students are administered by the Parent’s Council for Optional Religious Instruction (PCORI). The councilâ€"which is independent of the Parent-Teachers Associationâ€"is supposed to be composed of parents representing different religious denominations. But Catholics tend to dominate the group because there are so few non-Catholics, according to Andres. Thus, non-Catholic parents would rather encourage their kids to be members of Acts (after the book from the Bible), the catch-all group that administers retreats for all the other Christian denominations.
To some alumni, the PSHS should not even be allowing the teaching of religion to begin with. Religious instruction, Abad notes, is not the role of the school. “Its role is to train the country’s scientific cadres. It is okay to teach the concept of spirituality but not the tenets of any particular sect."
Kevin, the recent graduate, agrees: “It doesn’t seem like a secular school anymore." (NEWSBREAK)
BY GEMMA B. BAGAYAUA, NEWSBREAKIt would seem that the Opus Dei, the Roman Catholic group known for its deep orthodoxy, has become a powerful presence at the country’s premier science high school. Almost one-fourth of the 80 faculty members at the main campus of the Philippine Science High School (PSHS) are believed to be members of the religious organization, causing alarm among some alumni and teachers.
Already, these critics say, there are telltale signs of the group influencing even the school’s policiesâ€"an allegation that the affiliation of the PSHS system’s executive director doesn’t help dispel. Dr. Ramon Miranda is a devout Opus Dei member.
To critics, the issue poses problems particularly given the school’s mandate to provide the country’s best and brightest with an education centered on math and science. After all, how could a teacher who belongs to a group highly critical of the works of Sigmund Freud and Charles Darwin motivate the future scientific cadres of the land to embark in intrepid explorations of the natural sciences?
NEWSBREAK tried to set an interview with Miranda and Diliman OIC campus director Jessamyn Yazon concerning these matters but we were told that they were busy planning for the school opening. Interview questions e-mailed to Yazon went unanswered, while the e-mail sent to the address posted on the PSHS Web site bounced.
By itself, recruitment of students to the Opus Dei is not a problem, according to Joel Garduce, former representative of the alumni association to the Board of Trustees. The problem is if the recruitment is premised on a hidden agenda. The Opus Dei, he said, may be trying to gain influence at an early age with future technocrats who will most likely hold influential positions in government. “Why ‘Pisay’? Is the motivation religious or political?"
There are teachers who use Opus Dei materials in teaching such subjects as literature, critics allege. Roman Catholic prayers are sometimes said before classes. A mass was said during the baccalaureate proceedings.
Kevin, a recent graduate, recalls receiving disapproving comments from a teacher when she saw him reading Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code. There are even teachers who give out incentives for those attending retreats. “Some students feel they have to go through this to earn extra points," he said.
Trustee Rene Abad, a Methodist, pointed out that the PSHS is supposed to be a non-sectarian school. “Walang kinikilingan dapat na [It shouldn’t be supporting any] religion or sect." But this is not what is happening, he said.
A case in point is the chapel that has been set up inside the boy’s dormitory. “At the time it was presented in 2001, the concept was an adoration room that caters to all beliefs." This is not what happened eventually. Inside the chapel now are patently Roman Catholic emblems, among them an image of the Virgin Mary. The chaplain is a PSHS alumnus who happens to be Opus Dei as well.
If the school must allow religious groups to recruit, the school must provide everyone with an even playing field, Garduce said. “Why isn’t there an imam or a representative of indigenous peoples?"
Teacher recruitment
To critics, the fact that the number of members of this Catholic minority group in the school’s faculty has swelled to such a figure also raises questions on recruitment. After all, the school’s executive director, Miranda, is a member of the Opus Dei. All appointments go through the executive director before they are eventually given the final stamp of approval by the school’s trusteesâ€"who often see the applicant’s papers only during the actual board meetings.
Members of the faculty interviewed by NEWSBREAK deny that Miranda’s religious convictions have affected school policies.
Ana Chupungco, a teacher with the school’s computer science unit, denies that there is a marked bias for one religion inside the PSHS. It just so happened, she said, that most of the students are Catholic and that they have an active chaplain. “The Christians do not do anything about it. If they request, I am sure they will also be given their own prayer room."
There are teachers who have tendencies to proselytize within their classrooms, Chupungco admits, but it is not only the Opus Dei who do this. Christian teachers do it, too. Further, she said, such overt religiosity is also not tolerated by fellow faculty members. Teachers actively discourage their peers from displaying any marked bias for one religion; “You can say the ‘Our Father,’ but saying ‘Hail Mary’ is another matter because not everybody believes in Mary."
The same thing goes for teacher recruitment, Chupungco said. The executive director does have a hand in the screening process, but the initial screening is done by the different units.
A more likely explanation for the increase in the number of Opus Dei members among the faculty ranks, Chupungco said, is that since the group already has members inside the school, they are able to alert their friends immediately whenever there is an opening.
Another PSHS teacher, Gene Andres, agrees. “Because they live in communities they know immediately who is available at any given time and who will fit a particular job opening."
To stress this point, Andres, a Christian, points out that some of the Opus Dei faculty members even turned out to be critical of Miranda’s policies, which should belie suspicions that they were hired by the school because of his influence.
Still, there may have been a few instances when Miranda’s religious preference did affect hiring. Abad, who represents the alumni on the board of trustees, recalls an incident sometime between June and August 2005, when school management recommended for hiring a candidate who performed poorly in psychological examinations administered by the school. The examinations were supposed to gauge the applicants’ level of intelligence.
Abad recalled wondering at that time why the administration was pushing for someone who seemed unqualified for the post. “I saw that she was from the University of Asia and the Pacific, so I asked if she was Opus Dei." The applicant was eventually rejected.
In another instance, an applicant was allegedly rejected because she happened to be a single mother, despite the fact that the screening committee gave her favorable ratings. Schools owned by the Opus Dei are known for their policy of rejecting even students of unmarried or separated parents.
No to interfaith
There is also a strong opposition to forms of interfaith worship, according to Andres. Back in 2005, some Catholic teachers suggested an ecumenical retreat based on The Purpose-Driven Life, the bestselling book authored by a Protestant pastor. But the opposition came mainly from the parents, Andres recalled. Rather than take this course, according to Andres, “there are those who suggested that we turn it into a leadership camp instead, rather than a retreat."
For now, retreats for Catholic students are administered by the Parent’s Council for Optional Religious Instruction (PCORI). The councilâ€"which is independent of the Parent-Teachers Associationâ€"is supposed to be composed of parents representing different religious denominations. But Catholics tend to dominate the group because there are so few non-Catholics, according to Andres. Thus, non-Catholic parents would rather encourage their kids to be members of Acts (after the book from the Bible), the catch-all group that administers retreats for all the other Christian denominations.
To some alumni, the PSHS should not even be allowing the teaching of religion to begin with. Religious instruction, Abad notes, is not the role of the school. “Its role is to train the country’s scientific cadres. It is okay to teach the concept of spirituality but not the tenets of any particular sect."
Kevin, the recent graduate, agrees: “It doesn’t seem like a secular school anymore." (NEWSBREAK)
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