PLM OSDS hosts SALT 2026 for student leaders

Student leaders from various councils and organizations of Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM) gathered at the University Activity Center (UAC) for the Student Advancement and Leadership Training (SALT) 2026, organized by the PLM Office of Student Development and Services (OSDS), held from Oct. 1-3.

With the theme “Beyond Words: Bridging Voices, Building Leaders,” representatives from 44 university organizations attended the three-day training, including 26 academic, 16 non-academic, and two religious organizations. Among them were Mass Communication Students’ League (MCSL), PLM Mathematical Society, Lightbearer Society, PLM College Red Cross Youth Council, and PLM Muslim Association for Student Affairs (MASA).

University President Atty. Domingo “Sonny” Y. Reyes opened the training with remarks, emphasizing that leadership must be demonstrated not only through words but through actions and results. 

Dr. Lou-Rena S. Boquila, OSDS head for Student Activities, then introduced Schubert “Bong” Austero, a human resources professional and former president of the People Management Association of the Philippines (PMAP), who served as a resource speaker for SALT for the fourth time.

Austero discussed the importance of adaptive leadership in equipping leaders to navigate complex and unpredictable changes and address problems without predefined solutions. The training activities also aimed to observe how participants applied adaptive leadership in various situations.

As part of the training, participants were divided into groups and tasked with developing disaster response plans, with unexpected challenges introduced to test their ability to adapt, make decisions, and collaborate under pressure.

The second day featured a new set of activities that challenged the participants' collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking. These included the Mindset Lab activity, which encouraged participants to use perspective-taking and stakeholder mapping to shift from inward-focused to outward-focused leadership.

On the final day, the PLM Supreme Student Council (SSC) facilitated a series of team-building activities that put the student leaders’ teamwork, problem solving skills, and perseverance to the test. 

The event culminated with OSDS Director Prof. Mark Anthony Mercado expressing his gratitude to the participants for their active involvement.