Let’s face it. Politics can never be ignored as long as there are positions to run and aim for. In our own country, politics cannot be abandoned. It is a country famous for its history, heroes, beaches and resorts, OFWs and “People Power” revolutions, a country where the 3 P’s are always in the driver’s seat, namely, popularity, power, and politics.
Through the years, the sitting power and the opposition make schemes to ruin one another. Unaware of their selfish acts, they divide the masses and lead the country to peril, retarding its progress and development.
***
Leaders do not just sit on a couch and wait for someone to come to them to hand them something that needs their signature. They don’t just use the public funds to buy personal pleasures such as cars and personal security. Leaders are those who say, “It’s impossible, but there’s a way.”
Leaders are put into office because they have supporters. People who are sincere in helping a worthy cause don’t need important positions just for them to prove their altruism. The word leader doesn’t always come with the top position.
***
What politicians are not aware of, with their selfish actions, is that even students such as ourselves are unknowingly acting as politicians in our own ways. This is evident in campus or organizational elections. Once two different parties are formed, whether we like it or not, politics begin. Just by making statements that make the other party look bad or insincere, the student leader automatically acts like the politicians we see on television. Yes, we see them in formal suits, riding luxurious vehicles, wearing expensive jewelry and followed by dozens of bodyguards. But that doesn’t mean that they are, have been, or ever will be great leaders. Leaders are not measured by what they look like, by what car they ride in, or by how many bodyguards they have protecting them. Rather, by how much they can achieve in the name of public service and leadership.
No matter how hard a goal, no matter the improbabilities and uncertainties, a true leader will do whatever it takes to accomplish the goals for the betterment of the people.
***
An ant colony is composed of the army ants, the worker ants, and the queen ant. Although their existence is short-lived, ants still work hard to contribute to the survival of their colony. Each ant has a role to play in the colony, each follows the queen, each sacrifices and carries loads 10 times his own weight. Each supports the other to aid in the survival and sustainability of the colony.
***
Let us be like the ants. Instead of pulling down one another like crabs, let us be supportive of the common and righteous cause. Let us be like foundations supporting one another to hold a structure firmly above the ground. So that when the time comes that there has to be an improvement or an addition to the already built structure, it will hold itself and never falter.
