Br. Armin, Superior: Team Leader to the Peripheries

In a relaxing armchair in the Brothers’ house at Cronulla, Sydney, the smiling Superior General of the 3,000-strong Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools took time to talk about his life and service for ANZPPNG Lasallian Outlook. Elected on 18 May 2022 during the Rome 46th General Chapter of the Brothers, as the 27th successor of St. John Baptist de La Salle, Br. Armin, spoke of his origins, ministries and beliefs.

Family Life

He was born on Christmas Eve 1961 in Lipa City, Batangas, of humble Lipeño roots. The extended family of eight siblings was a classically-traditional Filipino one of deep Catholic beliefs, in which a normal expectation was that a son could choose to be a priest. (One of his brothers became a religious priest, and a grand-uncle was a bishop).

Marching down a Manila boulevard in protest at the Marcos regime as he did in the 1980’s would have “all of my ancestors turning in their graves.”

Educated by the Brothers at De La Salle Lipa, he was inspired by a Brother who was more than a teacher, a Brother who joined him and his peers in their parties and games. Br. Armin joined the Brothers in 1981 and was soon back at his alma mater as a religion teacher and campus minister, conscious of accompanying the students. This was “most meaningful for a young Brother”.

Formation Work & Initial Leadership

Very quickly, the Superior moved into vocation promotion and formation of young Brothers. “It immersed me into the depth of prayer…it challenged me” to live what he proclaimed. By 2000, he had been elected to be Visitor of the Philippines District of 50 -odd Brothers. He co-founded with Josef Suwatan, Catholic Bishop of Manado, the De La Salle Catholic University in Manado, now known as De La Salle University, Indonesia.

A significant appointment in 2004 was as President of De La Salle University, recognized as one of the three top universities in the country. In all, there have been 34 years of experience in both the private and public sectors. He was selected as national Government Secretary of the Department of Education from June 2010 to 2016**.

The Superior General Role – “The Reluctant Leader”

How did he feel being elected to the top job by 70 of his peers at General Chapter? “It was a fraternal experience,” as he found no sense of competition in the process of voting. His leadership qualities, he believes, have usually developed on the job; he relies on others around him, being himself more of an introvert in terms of personality.

Although being always “the reluctant leader,” Brother has always been “aware of doors opening” and not foreseeing, like the Founder, that one step in calling led to the next.

Some leaders that he observed in the Philippines were Br. Andrew Gonzalez, a national figure and  “a supreme academician”, Brs. Ray Suplido and Vic Franco, recognized pastoral leaders, but also other Brothers who “lived their lives in the streets, when (in the Marcos years) it was dangerous to do so”.

Br. Armin talks of assembling “good people” in a balanced team approach in leading. Diversity, not group-think, is important. So is visiting those working on the boundaries. The people we work with, he says, can be our real mentors, in crises for example.

Getting to know confidential information in the brotherhood, painful realities of various Districts, takes a toll. Many problems that are aired may have to remain unresolved questions, but situations can remind one that “it is not my work, but to trust it is the Spirit who leads.”

The First Year at the Forefront

Living out of a suitcase, meeting and animating, can be a personal struggle which can be softened by solitary time. Powerful experiences in his first year have been meeting some frail, vulnerable Brothers, important always as ‘brothers’. Living in Rome and in the Generalate led to a planning decision with his Council to “move the centre to the peripheries”, where, often, there is innovation, and where Brothers are there “hearing the cries of young people”.

Ways Forward?

The 46th Chapter in 2022 understood that new paths had to be trod.

Br. Superior noted that the next 7 years will reduce the number of Brothers to 2,300. “If we think establishing schools in the traditional way is the way forward, we are greatly mistaken”.

The Council of 6 leaders also realised that a new governance structure was needed. The Founder did this in the 1680’s – he went out to where youth were suffering. It is to look to “the road less taken”, with a “new mindset, paradigm if you will…We may be going to listen, to go in synodality, not as experts”.

**

From 2017 to 2019, he returned to serve as President of De La Salle Philippines, the network of La Salle schools. He was formerly the President of the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), the largest business-led non-governmental organisation in the country. In May 2019, he was appointed Brother Visitor of the 7-nation Lasallian District of East Asia (LEAD).

Br Armin has also held various positions in other governmental and intergovernmental organisations, such as the Advisory Council of the National Youth Commission (NYC), the UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines and the South East Asian Ministers of Education Organisation (SEAMEO). He has also been an active member of the Philippine Council for NGO Certification (PCNC), the Knowledge Channel Foundation, the Philippine Business for Education (PBEd) and the Sidhay Foundation for Street Children.

He also holds a Doctorate in Educational Management from Saint La Salle University in Bacolod, and a Master’s Degree in Religious Education and Values from De La Salle University. in Manila. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy and Humanities from De La Salle University.

As the Brother Superior General, he has the power to convene the General Chapter and an extraordinary General chapter as needed, assign posts of responsibility, and serve as the Institution's official representative.

(Author: Br Gary Wilson, District Creative Writer)