deSERVING LEADER

---

Is will to serve, enough? As the campaign period for the 2025 student elections comes to a close, we have heard the visions, advocacy, and platforms of every candidate for the student body. And if there is one common denominator that all these candidates share, which we frequently hear from them, it is their undying will to serve. As the mantra goes saying, “Para sa Kabsuhenyo, buo ang serbisyo.”

It is easy for one to claim that they have the will to serve. The question is, whom, what, and where to serve?

𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐦?

As student leaders, they ought to serve someone. When leading the student body, you are leading by serving. A leader provides solutions that will benefit the students. They should be the bridge of the students to the administration by standing as their representation, not the other way around. Otherwise, they opt to serve the latter.

There are student leaders who are indeed willing to serve – those who have been elected not to lead but to merely follow. These are the so-called leaders who are lenient to what is being told rather than being demanded. We call them student-leaders, where the emphasis is on the word “student.”

𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭?

During the campaign period, we witnessed how all candidates asserted that they were after the progress, for empowerment, and inclusive leadership. But let us hold on to the reality – similarly to the national elections, these platforms can be shallow promises to reflect their willingness to serve without a genuine understanding of what the studentry truly needs.

Some are advocates of transparency, mental health awareness, or even possess the pursuit of constitutional convention for organizational charters – but when asked about the actual steps for these initiatives, the answers are either vague or insubstantial.

What is being served, then? Are the candidates after the interest of the students or merely the interest of themselves? Are they laying solutions or slogans?

𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞?

Student issues remain prevalent on our campus – rampant academic concerns linger unresolved, the gaps between the communication of the students and the administration are still evident, and other predicaments where student leaders may play a crucial role in resolving. The question is, where will these aspiring leaders choose to serve?

Will these leaders serve within the bounds of their subordinates? Will they simply serve through conducting events for student’s merriment? Or will they have the courage to serve in spaces of conflict in which they need to be the voice of the voiceless? Their will to serve must go beyond the words they utter during the campaign.

Serving must be done even in places where they cannot be acknowledged, without people who will give them applause, and without anything in exchange for service.

𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐬, 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞, 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡?

Will is simply a drive to aim for something – to obtain a position or to change a notion. But leadership demands more. It comes with competence, courage, and genuine compassion. Without these three, one’s will to serve is a drive with no clear pathway to a better government for the student body. Having a good intention is not enough to create change.

As we cast our votes during this election, let us be reminded that the most fundamental trait of a student leader is not simply possessing the will to serve – but the wisdom to serve well.

By Jayson Pascua, Editor-In-Chief