The Making of a Servant-Leader

Known not just for bringing the Christian faith to its students, Don Bosco has earned the reputation of raising the youth to become "servant leaders", on top of attaining technical and academic skills.

And just how successful the institution has been to its mission and vision can be gleaned from its grand dinner reunion of alumni, "An Evening with Champions" at The Court at Rockwell Center held last January 31, culminating its 50th year celebration. That day also celebrated the Feast of St. John Bosco, founder of the Salesian order, which aims to educate and serve the youth, especially those coming from the marginal sector. In his lifetime, St. John Bosco had surrounded himself with young people whom he taught about Christian living.

Fr. Armand Robleza, National Salesian Delegate and himself a Don Bosco alumnus, said the dinner was intended to raise funds for the Blessed Philip Rinaldi Foundation, the third successor of St. John Bosco. This reunion of pioneer educators and alumni of the Don Bosco schools all over the country also aimed to help come up with a family spirituality movement that seeks to emphasize the Christian family as the cradle of (priestly) vocation.

Some notable alumni are Finance Secretary Lito Camacho, Audit Commissioner Guillermo Carague, Senator Gringo Honasan, Finance Undersecretary Tony Bernardo, Interior and Local Government Undersecretary Al Fernandez, Bangko Sentral Director Amado Tetangco and a good number of officers in the Armed Forces.

The dinner reunion was the final of several activities that marked the 50 years of Don Bosco. It began with the publication last February of the Historical Databook of Don Bosco, dating back to the Spanish era when the Salesians were first invited to the Philippines. It was followed by the Educators’ Retreat in Los Baños that was attended by 500 teachers of Don Bosco from all over the country, the Grand Celebration Thanksgiving Mass at the Folk Arts Theater, various consultative assemblies and the celebration with other member organizations belonging to the Salesian Family held in Cebu last February 1-3 and in Makati yesterday.

Another very significant event for Don Bosco’s 50th year celebration is the launching of its coffee table book The New Face of the Filipino Youth, a 50-year portrait compilation of the Filipino youth. The book will be distributed to decision makers of society to help them appreciate what needs to be done to help the youth.

The Don Bosco Alumni is a national federation with 13 chapters and is part of the Asia Australia confederation, one of six confederations worldwide.

Every year, Don Bosco has 20,000 enrollees in its schools, divided into the north and south ecclesiastical provinces with the north (Luzon) having missions in Papua New Guinea and the south (Visayas and Mindanao) in Timor, Indonesia and Pakistan.

What distinguishes Don Bosco from other exclusive schools–aside from its being several times cheaper than other institutions–is that its graduates earn two sets of degrees: the academic high school curriculum and the technical curriculum, an added feature that gives its alumni better chances of landing jobs in existing and new industries.

Don Bosco provides basic education from prep to college, with five-year college courses (mechanical engineering, electronics and communications engineering and computer engineering) and vocational courses ranging from one year (for manpower skills development training) to three years for technical courses.

Don Bosco has fulfilled its mission of providing the country’s street children with a chance to uplift their lives and become useful citizens. This it does through its Tuloy Center in Labang, which at any given time houses 120 to 125 streetchildren ranging from seven years to late teens.

The Salesian priests and brothers who founded Don Bosco in the Philippines were actually missionaries in China who were expelled by the Communists in 1951. They settled in Tarlac, through a school put up by American priest, Fr. Wilson. Almost at the same time, some of the Salesians settled in Voctorios, Negros.

Don Bosco prides itself with having put up 36 schools, parishes and centers for youth, which Fr. Robleza considers as "God’s blessings" to the Salesians and to Philippine society.

The past 50 years have seen Don Bosco producing very well trained technical people to run industries in urban centers, but of late it has realized that it has much to do in uplifting the conditions in the countryside by helping the farm sector modernize. This is the direction Don Bosco is taking in the next 50 years, which it will coordinate with government agencies concerned.

The Salesians are committed to making Don Bosco a vital instrument for national development. Wherever their schools are located, the Salesians keep reinventing the institution to keep pace with the fast changing environment. What never changes, however, is the value it teaches the young–to become servant leaders, first and foremost.