20/05/2026
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Not all victories are loud.
Some leaders rise not from privilege or noise, but from years of quiet struggle โ from unfinished assignments done through exhaustion, from borrowed fare money, from missed meals, and from learning how to keep going even when nobody seems to notice.
That is why the election of Gerel A. Depositario as Federated University Student Council President and Student Regent of ISUFST for AY 2026โ2027 felt deeply personal to many college learners.
His victory also carried historic weight for Dumangas Campus. After 13 years, Gerel became the first elected Student Regent from the campus โ a milestone many Dumangasanon students and alumni quietly celebrated as recognition not only of one leader, but of the campus community that helped shape him.
Gerel will succeed Rjay Pahuganoy, who served as Student Regent and Federated USC President during the Academic Year (AY) 2025โ2026. Before Pahuganoy came Natalie Jade Tanquerido (AY 2024โ2025), Jose Eugene Salazar (AY 2023โ2024), Francis Louie Brillantes (AY 2022โ2023), Jeams Tom Paclibar (AY 2021โ2022), and Karl Jan Cado (AY 2019-2021)โ student leaders who each carried the evolving voice of ISUFSTians during different moments in the universityโs continuing growth.
It was never just about a position. For many students who saw parts of their own struggles reflected in him, the victory felt deeply personal.
Gerel is not the kind of student leader who walks into a room trying to look larger than life. He does not speak like someone auditioning for national politics. He speaks like someone who has genuinely struggled through ordinary lifeโand perhaps because of that, many students listened more closely.
Life for Gerel extends far beyond school deadlines. At 33 years old, he is balancing life as a father to a 9-year-old daughter, a student, and a university-wide student leader. Raised in Ilaya 3rd, Dumangas, Iloilo, he admitted there are days when the combined weight of studies, leadership, family responsibilities, and personal struggles becomes difficult to carry.
And maybe that honesty became his strongest connection with students.
There were nights when leadership work did not end after meetings.
After long campus responsibilities, Gerel would still return home carrying unfinished school requirements while trying to make time for family. Sometimes, while reviewing documents late at night, exhaustion would quietly catch up with him. Other times, he admitted, he questioned whether he was doing enough both as a father and as a student leader.
Yet by morning, another full day immediately returned: classes, meetings, family responsibilities, and service work waiting all at once.
โMay times gid nga kapoy na,โ he admitted softly. โPero indi puwede magpundo kay may mga tawo nga nagasalig man.โ
In a generation exhausted by performative leadership and polished online personalities, there was something refreshing about someone who admitted that he, too, gets tired.
โSometimes, students are pressured academically, financially, emotionally, and personally,โ he shared during an interview. โPero padayon.โ
That one wordโpadayonโquietly captures how many ISUFSTians continue moving forward despite exhaustion.
Even when transportation costs rise. Even when internet signals fail. Even when mental exhaustion starts becoming heavier than motivation. Even when students begin questioning whether their dreams are still realistic.
Gerel did not campaign as a superhero. He campaigned with empathy rather than performance.
And perhaps that was enough.
Inside ISUFST, a university steadily gaining national and international recognition for innovation, extension, inclusivity, and transformative education, students were not merely looking for visibility. They were looking for sincerity.
Founded in 1957 as the countryโs first and only fisheries university, ISUFST has earned regional and international recognition for research, innovation, and community impact, including several Global Top 100 placements in the 2026 WURI rankings.
But behind those achievements are students simply trying to survive university life one day at a time.
Gerel never forgot that reality.
And students noticed.
University leaders noticed that sincerity too.
ISUFST President Dr. Nordy D. Siason Jr. described Gerelโs election as a reminder that leadership grounded in empathy, humility, and lived experience continues to matter deeply in higher education.
โStudent leadership becomes more meaningful when leaders remain connected to the real struggles of students,โ Siason said. โWhat makes this generation of young leaders hopeful is not perfection, but sincerity, compassion, and the willingness to serve beyond oneself.โ
II. A LEADER FORMED BY REAL LIFE
Gerel often describes his childhood as simple.
No dramatic speeches. No exaggerated hardship narratives. Just simple.
But sometimes, the simplest childhoods produce the deepest understanding of people.
Growing up in Dumangas taught him patience. It taught him humility. It taught him how ordinary families quietly carry burdens without always talking about them. He learned early that many people continue smiling even when life is difficult.
Those lessons followed him into leadership.
โI learned that leadership should have compassion,โ he said. โIndi lang dapat kita maayo maghimo programa; dapat kabalo man kita magpamati sa kabudlayan sang estudyante.โ
That line perhaps explains the emotional center of his leadership style.
He believes leadership starts with listening sincerely to students rather than performing leadership publicly.
Before becoming Student Regent, Gerel served in the Dumangas Student Council and became involved in peer facilitation initiatives, student support programs, emotional wellness activities, and campus service work. Through those experiences, he encountered students carrying emotional, financial, and academic burdens that many people never see.
Some students looked cheerful during events but quietly worried about tuition, family problems, transportation expenses, or mental exhaustion. Others attended classes despite anxiety and personal struggles because stopping school simply was not an option.
Those realities changed how he viewed leadership.
For Gerel, student leadership should not revolve only around banners, assemblies, or ceremonial activities. It should create systems that genuinely help students feel heard and supported.
That belief eventually became the heart of PANUBLIโhis platform advocating transparent, inclusive, and action-driven student leadership.
The word itself carries emotional weight.
Panubli, which loosely carries the idea of legacy, was never framed around fame, popularity, or applause. For Gerel, it meant building systems that continue helping students long after a leadership term ends.
Through Panubli, Gerel proposed programs such as Student General Assembly Meetings, Federated USC Monthly Meetings, Campus Administratorsโ Dialogues, USC Governance Benchmarking, Project BasaKalinga, and Project Panubli. On paper, these may sound administrative. But underneath them lies a simple idea many students deeply crave: follow-through.
One proposal under Panubli includes creating more regular student consultation spaces where concerns raised during assemblies and dialogues are formally documented, monitored, and followed up instead of being forgotten after meetings end. Gerel said many students become discouraged not because they are unheard, but because they rarely see visible action afterward.
He also hopes initiatives like Project BasaKalinga can strengthen peer support and basic academic assistance for students quietly struggling with academic pressure, adjustment difficulties, or limited learning resources.
Because for many students, one of the most frustrating experiences is being heard but never seeing action afterward.
โKay ang concern nga ginpamati-an pero wala gin-aksyunan, kulang gihapon,โ he explained.
That sentence resonated strongly online and offline because many students know exactly what that feels like.
What makes Gerel relatable is that he rarely speaks as though he already has all the answers. Instead, he speaks like someone still learning while trying his best to serve responsibly.
Even his closest friends and mentors describe him not as intimidating or overly political, but as approachable, funny, simple, and willing to improve.
That humility matters.
Especially today.
Those who worked closely with him saw the same thing.
Dumangas Campus Administrator Dr. Matthew Lasap said Gerelโs leadership journey reflects the realities many working and struggling students quietly experience while trying to pursue education and service at the same time.
โWhat makes Gerel relatable is that students see authenticity in him,โ Lasap shared. โHe understands pressure not only as a student leader, but also as a father, a classmate, and an ordinary person trying to balance responsibilities. That humanity allows students to connect with him naturally.โ
III. THE WEIGHT BEHIND STUDENT LEADERSHIP
People often romanticize student leadership.
They see photos during events. Speeches onstage. Smiles during ceremonies. Recognition online.
But Gerel openly talked about the parts people rarely notice.
He openly talked about the parts people rarely noticeโthe meetings, reports, pressure, and emotional strain behind student leadership. The balancing act between academics, family responsibilities, leadership obligations, and personal struggles.
โStudent leaders are also students who struggle, but still choose to serve,โ he said.
That line quietly dismantles one of the biggest misconceptions surrounding campus leadershipโthat student leaders somehow become emotionally immune once they hold positions.
The truth is often the opposite.
Many student leaders continue attending meetings while mentally exhausted. Some carry private anxieties while publicly appearing composed. Others sacrifice sleep, personal time, and emotional rest because responsibilities continue piling up.
Gerel understands that reality deeply because he lives it himself.
He admitted that one of his personal struggles is learning how not to carry everything alone. At times, he tends to overwork himself because he fears disappointing people who trust himโwhether classmates, fellow student leaders, his family, or the child waiting for him at home after long days on campus.
That pressure, he said, can become emotionally draining, especially when expectations begin piling up all at once.
Becoming a father changed his perspective dramatically. Suddenly, decisions became heavier. Responsibilities became more real. Dreams no longer belonged only to him.
โLeadership is not only about speaking or leading events,โ he reflected. โIt is about being responsible even when no one is watching.โ
That maturity appears to influence how he approaches governance.
Rather than focusing mainly on visibility, he repeatedly emphasizes accountability, documentation, consultation, and systems-building. He wants even quiet and less visible students to feel represented.
That aligns naturally with ISUFSTโs broader institutional direction.
ISUFSTโs growth as a research and innovation-driven university also depends on students feeling included in leadership and decision-making.
Gerel seems to carry that understanding.
His prioritiesโmental health, transparency, inclusivity, and student welfareโecho the concerns of many students today.
Still, what makes students connect with his story goes beyond policy platforms. It is the sincerity behind them.
There is something deeply human about someone admitting that leadership becomes difficult sometimes but continuing anyway.
There is something comforting about hearing a student leader say, โIndi kamo nagaisahanon.โ
You are not alone.
For many students quietly trying to survive college life, those words matter more than grand speeches.
IV. A TERM JUST BEGINNING
Gerelโs election this Tuesday, May 19, is still fresh.
Messages of congratulations were still pouring in across campuses. Posts from Dumangas, Tiwi, Di**le, San Enrique, and Main Campus circulated online as students celebrated the newly elected Federated USC officers.
The newly elected Federated University Student Council Executive Committee for Academic Year 2026โ2027 reflects representation from across ISUFSTโs campuses. Joining Gerel of Dumangas Campus are Vice President Faith Hope B. Gumbao of Main CampusโTiwi Site, Secretary Jared S. Demonteverde of Di**le Campus, Treasurer Ranel Jake B. Soteo of San Enrique Campus, and Auditor J B. Licera of Main CampusโPoblacion Site.
But beneath the greetings and shared posts was something deeper than electoral excitement.
Many students were quietly projecting their own hopes onto this new chapter.
The real work has only begun.
There will be difficult conversations ahead. Criticism. Pressure. Expectations. Mistakes. Long nights. Conflicting opinions. Administrative realities. Moments when idealism meets the complicated machinery of governance.
But perhaps what already makes this moment meaningful is the kind of hope students attached to it.
Not unrealistic hope.
Not blind hero worship.
Just the gentle hope that someone finally understands the quiet burdens many students live with daily.
Gerel himself does not claim perfection. In fact, he repeatedly says he does not need to be remembered as a perfect leader. He simply hopes people remember him as someone who listened, acted, and served sincerely.
That humility may become his greatest strength.
Because in many ways, ISUFST students today are not necessarily looking for louder leaders.
They are looking for more human ones.
Leaders who know what it feels like to doubt themselves.
Leaders who understand financial pressure.
Leaders who recognize mental exhaustion.
Leaders who remember that behind every student number is a real person trying to survive, dream, and move forward.
And maybe that is why Gerelโs victory feels bigger than a campus election.
It feels like recognition for every student who kept going despite exhaustion.
Every student who attended class while emotionally drained.
Every student who quietly balanced family responsibilities with academic requirements.
Every student who felt unseen but continued anyway.
Shortly after the election results were announced, while celebrations unfolded online and congratulations continued arriving from different campuses, Gerel reportedly stayed thoughtful and subdued for a while.
Not because he was ungrateful.
But because the weight of the responsibility had finally begun to sink in.
For him, the victory was never just about finally winning a position.
It was about proving that students carrying real-life burdens still deserve a place at the table.
For now, Gerel remains what he has always described himself to be: an ordinary person still learning, still growing, still trying his best.
But perhaps that is exactly why many students trusted him in the first place.
Because sometimes, the leaders people believe in most are not those who appear flawless.
Sometimes, they are simply the ones who never stop caring despite the pressure that comes with leadership. (Herman Lagon | PAMMCO)
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