Armin Luistro

Armin Altamirano Luistro (born December 24, 1961) is a Filipino Lasallian Brother who served as secretary of the Department of Education of the Philippines under President Benigno Aquino III. He is the first Asian Superior General of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools or De La Salle Brothers worldwide. Luistro entered De La Salle Scholasticate (the center for academic training of De La Salle Brothers to become full-fledged educators) The program sought to add two years to the previous 10-year basic education curriculum. When asked in a Manila Bulletin interview in 2009, he shared that he had spent most of his education in Batangas, and since DLSU had no uniforms, he "wore all the badúy [unfashionable] type of shirts", as he put it, using the Tagalog word for "unfashionable", while most of his classmates were from elite high schools. Thus he says "I supposed [they] laughed at me." in Manila in April 1979, and received the religious habit in October 1981 at the La Salle Novitiate in Lipa. He professed his first religious vows in October 1982, and his final vows in May 1988.

On August 26, 2000, Luistro co-founded the De La Salle Catholic University of Manado, currently known as De La Salle University, in Indonesia with Josef Suwatan, Roman Catholic Bishop of Manado. DLSU in Manila supervised initial operations before it was transferred to the Philippine District.

On April 2004,

He did, however, find the system's structure unfeasible. He worked into establishing De La Salle Philippines which replaced the system. Under the reorganization, other De La Salle institutions were included in the network—a total of 17. Each De La Salle institution was autonomous and had its own president.

Luistro and 18 other people were appointed as members of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life of the Roman Curia by Pope Leo XIV on June 24, 2025.

Political involvement

Luistro called for the resignation of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo during the height of the Hello Garci scandal in 2005. In which time, he became close to the Aquino family, a prominent political family in the Philippines. He also delivered a eulogy (named Cory, the Heart of a Saint) during the wake of former President Corazon Aquino, and said "our closeness with her was really borne out of that period [Hello Garci scandal], none of her children went to La Salle." becoming the second De La Salle brother to hold the post—the other was Gonzalez who was in office from 1998 to 2001.

Aquino gave Luistro two years to address problems, including insufficient books, classrooms and teachers. Luistro estimated that there were a lack of 130,000 teachers; 72,000 classrooms; 7 million desks; 141,000 comfort rooms; and 96 million books. In his 2013 State of the Nation Address or SONA, Aquino praised Bro. Luistro for successfully erasing the shortages of resources and classrooms inherited from the previous administrations.

As of December 2010, Luistro has the least net worth among Aquino's cabinet. He had ₱89,000 (US$2,060). In contrast, the richest—Cesar Purisima who is Secretary of Finance—had ₱252 million (US$5.84 million).

Sex education

Indigenous framework of education Luistro signed on behalf of the Deped the national policy framework for Indigenous peoples education in 2011. The framework aims to address Indigenous peoples' lack of access to "culture-responsive basic education". The framework directs DepEd offices and units to ensure that textbooks and other learning materials are free from discriminatory and erroneous content that misrepresent the history and culture of Indigenous peoples.

On June 24 of 2025, Pope Leo XIV also named him as a member of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life making him the first Filipino and Asian descent to hold the position. As stated on the Vatican's website, the dicastery is a section of the Roman Curia tasked with promoting, supporting, and overseeing the implementation of evangelical counsels.

Honors Bro. Luistro has been honored with the eponymous Bro. Armin Luistro Park at the Kalipay Elementary School in Gingoog City. For his work in human rights, Bro. Luistro has also been awarded as one of the first Most Distinguished Human Rights Defenders by Amnesty International in 2020. He was awarded the 2023 Gawad Bukas Palad Award by the Ateneo De Manila University for exhibiting the Ignatian spirit of generosity in giving back to the poor and the suffering.

In 2016, Bro. Luistro was awarded the Order of Lakandula by Pres. Benigno Aquino for his legacy as Education Secretary.