When the going gets rough

IAN RAPHAEL LOPEZ

While our society is plunged in intertwined crises of a pandemic and bad governance, the role of student leaders is indispensable. They have to ensure that the students’ concerns are heard and their rights are heeded, especially in a time where many are on the verge of being left behind.

Student leaders, like in UPLB, are one of the driving forces behind relief efforts during times of disaster. They were able to mobilize volunteers to dispense relief for those affected by Southern Tagalog’s 2020 headaches: the Taal eruption and the Covid-19 pandemic.

These people are also at the forefront of pushing for student welfare, which is being disregarded by those in power in a frenzy to contain the pandemic. Until now, the fight for an safe way to open classes in September is being led by student leaders. They are calling for a better and health-led response to the Covid-19 crisis, the only way we can facilitate a semester without anybody being left behind.

This feat is much more welcomed under the time of Duterte, where being an activist can literally be a death sentence. The passage of the Anti-Terror Law and the continuous threats of violence the student leaders face are alarming reminders of the dangerous road ahead. But student leaders have a unique contribution to the studentry, due to the fact that they are much more aware of our plight.

It’s important to bear in mind that these actions and mobilizations are all part of our student leaders’ oath when they took office. We might be thankful for it, but they will be the first one to say that all of those efforts are only part of their job. After all, the relationship of student leaders to their constituents is somewhat of a microcosm of the bigger dynamics between the government and the Filipino people.

We can only hope that our national government takes a cue from their noble juniors, toiling away in universities and colleges. Especially in Duterte’s bungled response to the pandemic, all we have seen from the national government is a non-stop passing of the buck and no one taking accountability for their faults. And being the microcosm that it is, some of our student leaders have the unfortunate distinction of jumping off the ship when the going gets rough.

The recent issue with Defend UPLB comes into mind. When allegations of fabricated death threats surfaced against the alliance, every UPLB student hoped for an investigation to conclude the matter. This is understandable, considering how it had many adverse effects. Personally, I felt it blurred the fact that many student leaders have been a victim of creepy, threatening messages for a long time. Before Covid, it has been an unfortunate fact of life for many of UPLB’s student leaders (and by the way, even [P] staffers like this writer) to see “intelligence agents” discreetly taking photos of them in mass gatherings, or following them on their way home.

But the hopes of any conclusive investigation are dashed, up until now. A person involved with the fiasco—the volunteer who allegedly received the death threat in question—has been unresponsive to investigations from outside the alliance. Requests for an interview by this newspaper, where many rely on until now for an in-depth report, hasn’t even been attended to.

Part of the unique role of student leaders in society is taking those in power into account. Sideby-side with that, however, is to take themselves into check as well. To leave a grave issue, such as this one, without any conclusion isn’t something we shouldn’t do. The student leaders’ pact with the studentry is founded on trust.

One way to fortify such trust is to become transparent with students. Many—especially in this pandemic—rely on our student leaders for guidance on what steps to take next. Showing transparency, utmost participation and responsiveness may seem cliché, but these are important steps to make.

And student leaders implicated in grave issues need to own up to their mistakes with transparency and diligence. Maybe they can cooperate with investigations, for a start. They are not infallible, that’s for sure, because to err is human. But running away from mistakes isn’t human at all, but a monstrous mistake.