IBON Foundation
A quiet, conservative life may be desirable to many, but not for Sister Aquila Sy. As an educator, she dedicated her life to championing the cause of the poor and marginalized.
Sr. Aquila passed away last August 19. She served as the principal of Binalbagan Catholic College (BCC) and was among the genuine practitioners of transformative education in the country. The staff of IBON Foundation and members of the Educators’ Forum for Development join her family and community in mourning the loss and celebrating the life of a true servant of God and the people.
Leading one of Negros Occidental’s largest private schools, Sr. Aquila pursued not only academic excellence but an education that advocates for people’s rights. She worked tirelessly in developing a curriculum that would promote social transformation and in empowering communities, in particular by fighting for the rights of landless farmers and farmworkers, especially sugarcane workers in Negros.
Sr. Aquila went beyond the classroom and immersed herself in the lives of the poor. During Martial Law, the people of Negros, particularly in rural areas, faced military harassment and accusations of supporting rebels against the Marcos dictatorship, with many sugar workers being killed. Despite ongoing military surveillance and harassment, Sr. Aquila and the other nuns from the Presentation Sisters opened their convent as a refuge for displaced families and those facing persecution.
Sr. Aquila became BCC’s first principal in 1978. She integrated the social realities of poverty and oppression in the school’s lesson plans and organized seminars and discussions with the basic sectors inside the campus. She would remain unfazed amid military vilification.
IBON and EFD fondly remember Sr. Aquila, who with the BCC faculty would frequently invite us to help in syllabus-making or to speak in their forums. BCC became one of IBON’s longest standing partner schools and EFD’s living model of transformative education.
Thank you, Sr. Aquila for your courage, dedication, and service. You will be forever missed.
