Eleven Bicolano Young Leaders join 25th Ayala Young Leaders Congress

By James Nathaniel Refugio, LPT, CDPM, MMath

Ayala Young Leaders Congress (AYLC) is a leadership flagship program of the Ayala Corporation designed for college students to hone their leadership skills, to strengthen their advocacies, to build their confidence, to nurture their commitment that foster nationalism and encourage faithfulness in everything they do.

From more than 2,000 applicants, the Ayala Foundation named the 84 student-leaders across the country last May 19, 2023 after the rigorous selection processes from document submission and validation, paper screening up to panel interview. Through these competitive processes, this made AYLC a highly anticipated leadership program every year in the Philippines, and its engineered programs and activities that made every delegate to be sharply awake and reasonably disturbed in developing their fair share who is driven to serve and dedicated to lead.

From the latest cohort, eleven student-leaders from Bicol Region joined the four-day leadership congress last June 20-23, 2023 at the Lima Park Hotel, Lipa City, Batangas who shared their stories and experiences and participated in the immersive and outdoor activities that highlighted leadership values and redefined their greater purpose . These are the following:

1. Jan Carlo E. Bagasbas, BS Civil Engineering, Bicol University

2. Nica Deannise B. Berlon, BS Civil Engineering, University of Nueva Caceres

3. April Joy O. Falabi, BSEd - Mathematics, University of Nueva Caceres

4. Alexandra D. Gonzaga, BS Social Work, Bicol University

5. Lizlyn May S. Habala, BSBA Legal Management, Ateneo de Naga University

6. Sean John P. Obordo, BS Nursing, Universidad de Sta. Isabel

7. Tyron Dale H. Plandes, BSBA Business Management Honors Program, Ateneo de Naga University

8. Gianna Georgette Roldan, BS Accountancy, Ateneo de Naga University

9. Kaye Pauline B. Servidad, BS Nursing, University of Nueva Caceres

10. Avegail T. Temporal, BSEd - English, Central Bicol State University of Agriculture

11. Mary Charlagne P. Thomas, BSBA Business Management Honors Program, Ateneo de Naga University

With this year’s AYLC theme, dubbed as “Kasama Ka!” emphasized the value of inclusive leadership and collaborative governance in the wide-arrays of servant-leadership that brought outstanding student-leaders with diverse backgrounds and academic fields related to business, arts, sciences, aviation, community development, government, engineering, technology and to name a few.

Since 1998, the said leadership congress has produced 1729 alumni coming from 25 batches, with more than 100 Bicolano young leaders comprising the Ayala Young Leaders Alumni - Bicol United (AYLA-BU) chapter who continuously making a difference and amplifying its impact from regional development towards nation-building.