"The role of the Lasallian Partners Council is to advise and assist the Brother Visitor, or the Philippine Sector Leader, on matters that concerns the Philippine Lasallian Family."
In the introduction of “Structures for Lasallian Mission of the 21st Century (Part I)”, Dr. Camelita I. Quebengco, Co-Secretary, Lasallian Education Mission of the De La Salle Brothers of the Christian Schools, wrote:
The General Chapter of the Christian Brothers declared as early as 1976 that henceforth, the Lasallian mission is shared with lay Partners. This was affirmed and re-affirmed in clearer and stronger terms by the succeeding General Chapters. The 41st General Chapter in 1986 for example endorsed the La Salle school model through a new section called “The Shared Mission”. The word Partner was used and the relationship between Brothers and lay was called a partnership. In unambiguous language, the Chapter declared that “the Brothers community is ever mindful that its apostolic activity takes place within an educational community in which all the functions, including positions of responsibility are shared” (Johnston, John FSC, 1998). The 42nd General Chapter in 1993 included lay Partner Consultants and “amply developed the concept of shared mission and made it a priority for the Institute in the next 7 years, seeing it as a sign of the times, an integral part of our (the Brothers’) vocation as religious persons (Botana, FSC, 2007).
"The Lasallian Partners Council (LPC) was first established during the First Lasallian (Philippine) District Synod held in May 1999."
The Lasallian Partners Council (LPC) was first established during the First Lasallian (Philippine) District Synod held in May 1999. Basically, the role of the LPC is to advise and assist the Brother Visitor (or the Philippine Sector Leader) on matters that concerns the Philippine Lasallian Family. It was during this historical event that the importance of all members of the Philippine Lasallian Family, particularly the lay partners, were acknowledged in realizing the Lasallian Mission. Although, prior to the formal establishment of the LPC, Lasallian lay partners (like teachers, non-academic staff, administrators and alumni) were actively involved in the Mission and other Lasallians, members of organizations like the Signum Fidei, have been intentionally involved in the Mission. However, the Synod of 1999 formally involved lay partners in defining the direction of the Mission in the Philippines. Dr. Carmelita I. Quebengco AFSC wrote this article that was published in the Institute’s Bulletin FSC 250 - 2005:
The Philippine District has grown much over the years. It now has 15 District schools, 32 supervised schools, and numerous non-formal education programs and projects with more than 6,500 Lasallian Partners, but only 52 Brothers, serving about 98,000 students. Partner participation in the conduct of the Lasallian mission is clearly very strong, and the focus on Shared Mission is considered most appropriate and desirable.
Although it was obvious that the Filipino Lasallian Partners participated actively in discussions of vision, goals, and objectives of the Lasallian mission, it eventually became apparent that the partnership with the Brothers was only partial. They had a voice in the deliberations, but there was no structure that permitted them to vote. This was viewed as a very real weakness in the implementation of the concept of Shared Mission, especially considering the lop-sided ratio between Brothers and Partners (referring to the Institute’s 43rd General Chapter). Hence, the first Lasallian Synod held some six years ago approved as one of its action plans: to “ensure full participation and empowerment of Lasallian Partners” (MAP8). This was officially approved by the 11th Philippine District Chapter in December 2000.
The 1999 Synod was followed by the Philippine Lasallian Family Convocations of 2003 (PLFC03) and 2008 (PLFC08), where the Lasallian Partners Council representing the different sectors and regions of the Philippine Lasallian Family was organized to give lay partners the voice and vote in helping determine the direction of the Lasallian Mission.
