I am an alumna of PSHS Diliman Campus Batch 2005. I would like to comment on the three articles that were posted.

The first is "Fading Glory?" by Gemma B. Bagayaua. I do not think that my alma mater sacrifices quality for quantity. In the first place, this insitution was built to promote science and technology in the country. And it is the government who is responsible for inadequate salary that is being given to the faculty. Di na kami magtataka kung hindi the best teachers ang nagtuturo sa min.

The second is 'Sink or Swim' by Carmela Fonbuena. 'Pisay’ graduates are accused of overconfidence and academic delinquency in college I do not think this only applies to Pisay graduates. It also applies to other schools. It's the students who choose to be overconfident that they already know everything... it just happened that they are from Pisay. Pisay did not teach us to become "mayabang", instead they taught us to share our knowledge to our fellow classmates or colleagues. However, I admit that at one point in college, we may (take note: may. I'm not sure about other Pisay alumni) think that everything was already taught back in high school. But I realize that those advance subjects that we have taken back then were only gists of the college subjects perse.

“When we fail our exams, we are not usually as concerned as our classmates—who probably failed for the first time—and they misinterpret us to be arrogant,” Moneva said. “But we are used to failing in PSHS. We know that there’s another chance to make up for it.” - I agree.

Sa totoo lang, tinuruan kami ng Pisay to easily adjust to college environment, kaya napagkakamalan kaming mayabang.

The last and I think the most controversial is A Matter of Religion by Gemma B. Bagayaua. The first thing that I noticed from this article was this is biased from what you think should be published. Newsbreak was not able to see the issue from bird's eye view.

Regarding the ecumenical retreat issue in our batch, it should be confidential that is why you weren't told the entire thing.

Thank you for your concern.

Joahna Michelle Chua
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

=================

"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."

Question, how alarmed? and kindly quantify the word "some" you used.

"Already, these critics say, there are telltale signs of the group influencing even the school's policies—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?

"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?"

I'm a graduate of PSHS batch 2004 and of course L've been inside the school system and more or less we students are the ones you should first ask regarding this article. Kevin is only what 1/960 students studying. That's less than a half of one percent. How can this represent the total population of our school. My friend is right, after reading your article, math and science aren't the only things we learned from Pisay.

Accepted, majority of the graduates of this school succeed in life and do you think math and science are the only things they learned. They learned friendship, they learned love, they learned discipline, they improved their character, etc. In short they developed their values, If Opus Dei can help the students, why not? If these teachers can teach the students "at an early age" on how to deal with life, why not? Remember we don't have religion classes, we only have values education classes and VALUE itself is not a characteristic only for Christians. It is a nature of man to be virtuous or rather if he chooses otherwise, to choose the bad way, then he is not acting as a man. Any religion will teach you to hold on to your values. Values are not learned overnight. It is a long process and better start at an early stage. What's your point of writing this article? to say things against Opus Dei or hinder the students from having a choice to develop their values.

"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."

Retreats aren't compulsary. The retreats that we have, most of them in Tagaytay are ALWAYS divided into two groups. The Catholics and Non-Catholics. Let's face it, we are a Catholic nation and the population of the Catholic students will always be in majority.

"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."

It was quoted. Who said this? Ehem ehem... my classmate's Father is the one who donated this chapel, maybe we can ask him what's the true purpose of the chapel.

Kaiser Fernandez
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

========================

To the editors of Newsbreak:

I am a PSHS alumna and frankly, I am very disappointed with your article "A Matter of Religion". The article is unfair to the school, the students, the faculty and staff, the administrators, and to the members of Opus Dei.

The article totally ignores the fact that the population of Pisay is merely a reflection of the population outside--the majority of Filipinos are Catholic; therefore the majority of the students who do get into Pisay and the majority of the teachers who are hired, are Catholic as well.

It just so happened that a number of the Catholic teachers who got hired are Opus Dei. So what? It is nothing to be alarmed about. The Opus Dei teachers were not hired because of their religious beliefs--they were hired because they had the necessary qualifications to fit the job. They stay in position not because of their religion--they stay because they do their jobs well. Instead of subjecting these individuals to censure, we must commend them for staying at Pisay when they could have taken higher-paying positions at private Catholic schools.

The Opus Dei is not trying to infiltrate Pisay for the purposes of "gain[ing] influence at an early age with future technocrats who will most likely hold influential positions in government." This is, excuse my French, nothing but conspiracy theory crap. In my experience, many of the Opus Dei teachers were the ones who were the most conscientious about separating religion from science.

Yes, there have been times when Opus Dei teachers berated us for not following their conservative values, but those instances always happened outside the classroom, where we had the choice to disregard their admonishments (which most of us did). All topics--no matter how controversial--were given fair and scientific treatment within the four walls of the classroom.

I totally disagree that the school caters more to Catholics than other religions. The only reason non-Catholics are not given the same treatment is because our numbers are too few. However, because non-Catholics are the minority, it doesn't mean they are marginalized. The Catholics, even the Opus Dei ones, mostly respect the beliefs of other religions (or in the case of atheists and agnostics, non-belief). Pisay even has a pastor for the non-Catholic Christians.

As to the question, “why isn’t there an imam or a representative of indigenous peoples,” it is only because it would be highly impractical to bring in an imam, babaylan, or Shinto priest to cater to the very tiny number of non-Christians. The non-Christians know that the school does not get enough money as is, and accept the fact that they do not have enough numbers to warrant a separate prayer room with prayer rugs, torii, or blocks on which sacrificial animals can be killed. The fact that if asked, the school would provide prayer rugs, torii, and sacrificial blocks, is enough.

I myself am not a Catholic, or at least not one anymore; I entered PSHS a semi-practicing Catholic, but somewhere between the chem labs and countless algebra tests I became part-Shinto, part-agnostic. However, never in my four years at PSHS did I feel pressure to convert to Catholicism or adopt Catholic beliefs. Never was I forced to attend religious retreats--I did so of my own volition because those retreats end up being four-day, whole-batch sleepovers anyway.

My beliefs were questioned, but I was also given the chance to question everybody else's beliefs. Ask the Moslems, the Evangelical Christians, the Pagans (if there are still any in Pisay), the agnostics, and the atheists, and they will say the same thing: each religion was given the utmost respect in PSHS and there was no "erosion of the secular atmosphere" in the hallowed halls of learning.

I think most Pisay students have done, and are continuing to do, what I did during my stay there: concentrate on the secular. Religion becomes almost unimportant in the face of physics exams, frog dissections, and keeping our chemistry experiments from blowing up. Besides, teachers also concentrate on the secular. Yes, even the Opus Dei ones keep their bible-thumping to a bare minimum. There is no Darwin-bashing, Freud-stomping, Leonardo-hating, and Galileo-tramping going on. Pisay is not slowly becoming a secret factory for bible-thumping, religious conservative hicks. To those who believe otherwise, consider this: Pisay does not have a "Religion" or "Christian Living" subject. We have values education, but that isn't really religious either.

Please stop this unfair treatment of the school that still does provide the best science and math education in the Philippines.

Sincerely,

Jolleen Filio, batch 2004.
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

P.S. Oh, and yes, we are fully encouraged to "embark in intrepid explorations of the natural sciences," no matter how controversial.

====================

Dammit!!! Why are my hard-earned taxes going to Opus Dei-related activities in a secular school? I have no issue with voluntary religious instruction but I take severe issue with this creeping religious fanaticism in a state school that is supposed to produce future scientists and technocrats. I am greatly infuriated that these devious peddlers of a twisted form of fundamentalism are not just content with running their own schools for producing backward-thinking students; they even have to contaminate secular schools funded with our taxes!!

What is this country coming to?

Alma Bien
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

==================

Dear Editor,

I am writing this with regard to your article on the Opus Dei influence in Philippine Science High School, published in your latest issue.

As a PSHS alumnus, I find this account of the "Opus Deization" of PSHS both sad and disturbing news.

PSHS is a secular school and should remain secular. If fully 50% of teachers in PSHS are members of Opus Dei (as opposed to the percentage of Opus Dei members among the population of teachers in the Philippines), it is clear there is a strong bias for hiring them. And whether you like it or not, this will strongly influence the students. I suppose that is the plan.

This could be a reflection on what prevails in the Philippine government and its institutions today. It's different, though, when it hits your own school.

Jose Luis Albert
PSHS Class of 1980
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

==================

Should we have more science schools (“Fading Glory?” NEWSBREAK, June 5, 2006)? No, we should maintain the present number and instead concentrate on improving the skills of kids in English and math so they would have a chance of getting in.

If we increase the number of science schools, that would lead to a slackening of criteria since populists will be pushing for more students, especially those from poorer areas, to make it. If our lawmakers allow this, it will defeat the purpose of training the best students in science and math. If we get more kids interested in sciences in grade school, we will have a good base of students who will compete for slots in science high schools.

The debate between quality and access never ends.

Domingo Dizon
Quezon City

---

INTERACT WITH THIS ARTICLE