THE ROMAN Catholic Archdiocese of San Fernando, Pampanga (RCASF) skipped a committee hearing called by the Committee on Education of the the Angeles City Council which aims to protect the rights and welfare of 1,300 students while 89 teaching and non-teaching personnel who will be displaced in the wake of the sudden closure of the 60-year old Chevalier School (CS). The RCASF is recovering the three-hectare property after it won a lawsuit with a church court in Rome allowing it to rescind a contract of lease with the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (MSC) which has been running the school since 1958.
Archbishop Florentino Lavarias cited in his letter to City Councilor and committee chairman Alfie Bonifacio, and it reads: “I respectfully ask to be excused. Although I wish to give my humble widow’s mite on your agenda, “educational stability of Chevalier School,” I happen to be a senior citizen and medically considered to be immuno-compromised. Recently, too, a number of the Clergy of the Archdiocese have tested positive for COVID-virus; hence, at this critical time, it may not be mutually beneficial for us to have a physical, face-to-face meeting.”
Chevalier School’s fate is ‘racing against the clock’. Hence, Bonifacio calendared another hearing and requested Archbishop Lavarias to join over a video conference via Zoom and to send an authorized representative or legal counsel on February 22 to discuss this urgent issue because school operations are due to expire in the second quarter (April-May) of this year. He pointed out the government has to intervene and invoked Section 1., Article XIV of the 1987 Philippine Constitution which provides, “The State shall protect and promote the right of all citizens to quality education at all levels, and shall take appropriate steps to make such education accessible to all.”
Chevalier School is reportedly financially sound and viable. In fact it has innovated a “Learning Continuity Plan” transforming the traditional in-person classes to online learning to cope with the requirements of the new normal. Consultations and surveys were conducted to employees, parents and students, health and safety standards are observed, teachers have attended webinars about the adjustments to be made, DepEd’s most essential learning competencies were reviewed, and the faculty members have offered their readiness and commitment in providing continuous quality education.
Many parents, teachers, alumni and former faculty who attended the hearing reacted: “This is a nightmare to figure out and a bitter pill to swallow because Chevalier’s untimely closure is unreasonable. Why now? Why should the students and teachers suffer the consequences? Where is the compassion of the church authorities? Why so abrupt in the midst of the pandemic? We are just asking for an extension, is that too much to ask?”
Other private schools have to shut down because of the impacts caused by the coronavirus pandemic and great complexity to the school’s enrollment process and online classes.Meanwhile, the Department of Education (DepEd) expressed alarm over the imminent repercussions and disbelief of Chevalier’s sudden closure. DepEd Division of City School-Angeles City representative Glen Sarmiento, who is in charge of private schools, said during a committee hearing in the city council chaired by councilors Bonifacio and Atty Arvin Pogs Suller, their primary concern is the welfare of the students.
Sarmiento warned that public and private schools in Angeles City have no capacity to accommodate transferees in the event face-to-face classes are resumed. Moreover, the hiring outlook remains dim for displaced teaching and non-teaching personnel amid the rising coronavirus cases. He also said the CS administrator is yet to submit a formal letter of closure before the academic year expires in April or May and a contingency plan on the students’ transfer applications. He cited that based on records, the school is in good standing and compliant with DepEd laws and policies.
Moreover, the school was granted another 15 years by the Regional Trial Court from school year 2017-2018 to 2033 and making permanent the writ of preliminary injunction dated March 24, 2017 citing “a reasonable basis on the need to protect petitioners-students’ right to finish their course and the necessity to grant injunction on the respondents’ imminent act of executing a new lease of contract that materially invades petitioners-students’ rights to education.” The petition was filed on behalf of the petitioners-students by CS parent and lawyer Regina Gopez-Agustin.
Alumnus Veejay Tanglao, one of the prominent crusaders of the Save CS Movement and Chevalier School Alumni Association (CSAA), expressed apprehensions over the sad plight of students and personnel as they have appealed repeatedly to Archbishop Lavarias to grant a dignified and graceful exit for the school by extending its operations from 10-15 years in the property while laying the groundwork for relocation. Tanglao quoted Pangasinan Archbishop Socrates Buenaventura Villegas’ homily last January 30, 2021, “Authority comes from compassion, it does not come from position, authority is not vertical, it is horizontal where we can extend our arms longer and serve one another more. When a person in the church is given authority it is not a step higher than the rest.”