28/02/2026
๐๐๐๐๐๐ | ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ? ๐๐ซ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐ก๐ข๐ฉ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐จ๐ซ๐๐๐ซ
โWe aspire to be the voice of the student body.โ This was one of the Senior High School Supreme Student Councilโs ultimate goals during the Miting de Avance that gave them the confidence and authority to lead. Yet in the very moment when that voice was needed most, students found themselves unheard. What happened instead did not show representation, but distance. Not leadership, but separation. In the end, the voice that was meant to carry the students spoke only for itself.
Leadership is not only measured when plans go smoothly, it tests on how one responds when responsibility becomes heavy. The Councilโs handling of the intramurals last February 20 to 25, revealed not just simple mistakes, but a consistent pattern that reflected poor foresight, weak coordination, disorganized communication, and, most concerning, a lack of accountability to the very people they aim to serve. Students struggled to keep up with sudden changes that were neither properly informed nor clearly explained. The organizations meant to support the event were left to do the tasks they were never meant to fill. Even the basic well-being and experience of participants appeared, at times, to be optional rather than a priority. These were not unforeseen inconveniences, instead, they were proof of leadership that only reacted to problems that had already risen to its peak.
When concerns were finally raised in a formal meeting after the event concluded on February 25, students expected reasonable answers. What many witnessed instead deepened their disappointment. As students, cluster heads, and organization representatives spoke, there were moments when council members failed to give their full attention as side-murmuring continued and visible facial reactions such as raised eyebrows, exchanged glances, and expressions of disbelief that created an atmosphere less inviting for accountability and more like a room of defensiveness. Whether intentional or not, these reactions revealed to us that some concerns were not received with openness, but with resistance. When asked โwhyโ these issues happened, all they could offer was the โwhat,โ of what transpired, and not a single reasonable explanation for their shortcomings. Students did not come to that meeting to be entertained, nor to be dismissed โ they came to be heard. Leadership not only expects the willingness to answer, but includes the discipline to listen without prejudice, without interruption, and without visible irritation.
The Council also pointed to busyness as a justification โ that members were occupied, that availability was limited. Yet this explanation raises difficult questions. During the intramurals, academic work was already halted to give way to the event. Council members themselves were not allowed to be participants in the games they were assigned to oversee. They were one of the largest organized bodies present, with a singular responsibility of ensuring the event ran properly. What, then, prevented the fulfillment of that duty? Was the busyness caused by the preparation for the next day? If so, why did the same issues persist day after day? Preparation should produce improvement, not repetition of the same mistakes. And when responsibility is shared among many, its weight should become lighter, not heavier. When outcomes consistently fall short, busyness alone cannot serve as a reasonable answer. It becomes, instead, a painful proof of planning that began too late, coordination that did not hold, and the unity that did not fully exist between every council member. To add wood to the fire, the Council has not given an actual proposed solution even at the end of the meeting.
To put things simply, this is not about schedules, nor mechanics, nor unique incidents โ It is about the lack of representation. A student council does not exist to stand above the student body, but to walk among it. Its authority does not come from titles, but from our trust; and trust, once it is weakened, cannot be restored through explanations alone, it needs to be rebuilt through visible action. Transparency must replace silence, preparation must replace reaction, and most importantly, listening must replace defensiveness.
This column is not written to diminish the Senior High School Student Council, but to remind it of what it promised to be. Leadership is not about being seen at the top, but about being down-to-earth with those you chose to serve. If the Council truly aspires to be the voice of the student body, then it must be the first to learn on hearing it.
Because, a voice that does not listen is not a voice of the people, it is only an echo of itself.
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