One of teacher’s exam topnotchers is ex-priest’s son

MANILA, Philippines — For 23-year-old Rey Aranas, growing up in his native province of Bohol was an ordeal where his family was misjudged.

Aranas graduated with a degree of Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from the Bohol Island State University in Tagbilaran City this year. He also passed the Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET) last month and ranked second with a grade of 88.60 percent.

Passing the licensure exam was a great relief for Aranas even if he was considered a disgrace by other people.

His father, Rey Antonio Aranas, was a former Catholic priest.

“People in our place would say I was born out of sin. It was very painful,” he said.

Aranas, the eldest of six children, is among the graduates who prepared for the LET at the Carl E. Balita Review Center.

He appeared in a news forum in Quezon City, where the review center highlighted the achievements of students who obtained a college degree despite being poor.

Aranas said his 70-year-old father was still a priest when he was born.

The elder Aranas met his future wife who was 20 years younger than him in Bohol, unaware that he was a priest.

“He told my mother he was an engineer. When she found out, she immediately left him,” the younger Aranas said.

Aranas’ father pursued his mother who went home to Cagayan de Oro City. It was there that he decided to leave priesthood.

“He made the choice to have his own family. He does not want to hide us,” he said.

The elder Aranas resigned from the priesthood in 1997 but this did not stop other people from judging him and his family.

Now retired, he had worked as a college instructor after he left the priesthood.

Asked for his message to the people who have mistreated them, the new teacher said nobody can judge the Aranas family.

“Only God can say if I was born out of sin,” he said.