Bishop, Catholic schools back student relationships

NUEVA Ecija Bishop Robert Mallari is not in favor of a Cagayan de Oro school’s policy of prohibiting romantic relationships among its students.

“We are not in favor of this policy. We have a regular formation program regarding values formation and responsible relationships,” he said.

The Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP) shared this view, saying that human relationships play a significant role in the development of a person.

“Schools are places for us to continue building meaningful relationships,” said Anthony Coloma, CEAP advocacy and information management officer.

“This is a critical context wherein we build friendships and relationships that cut across time. These are an important series of moments when we nurture loving and life-giving relationships. We also learn endurance and the joy of work, fraternal love, generous—even repeated—forgiveness, and above all, divine worship in prayer and the offering of one’s life. We should not deny these opportunities to them,” Coloma said.

“Women and men who have not been enriched by the formation of human relations and genuine friendships at a young age may find difficulty in building lifelong and intimate partnerships,” he added.

Golden Heritage Polytechnic College recently imposed a “true love waits” policy on its students to prevent teenage pregnancies.

School president Capt. Tito Dichosa said his only wish was for his students to finish college. He added that he got frustrated whenever a student got pregnant and stopped schooling.