Mariano Marcos
State University

DAP invites MMSU student leaders to join Bagani leadership program

By Jedd Bryant Boado

The Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP) presented the Bagani Rising Leaders Development Program to the Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) community on February 9, outlining opportunities for student leaders to undergo leadership training for public service.

The program was attended by the Vice President for Academic Affairs Aris Reynold Cajigal, student journalists from the Sirmata,  and officers of the University Student Council.

During the meeting, DAP officials, headed by Program Director of the Sustainable Human Development Program Marites Solomon and Business Development Team Leader Dos Gonzaga, shared information about the Bagani leadership program, especially in honing budding leaders to become honest and competent when they take up future leadership positions in the government. 

“What Bagani wants to achieve is for young people who are aspiring, and even those who are currently holding positions in the government, to have a pathway to become leaders in the future,” Mr. Gonzaga said. He also shared the two components of the program. These are the Open Learning and the Bagani Fellowship programs. 

The Bagani Open Learning is a self-paced, four-module, and four-month-long activity where participants need to finish the program in order to learn leadership concepts in the Philippine context. Its application will start from February to July 2026.

Meanwhile, the Bagani Fellowship is an intensive residency program where only 100 participants are selected to undergo a 1-month immersive learning experience through workshops and mentorship from individuals trained by Oxford University. From the top 100 participants, only 10 will be selected to be sent for a fully funded international immersion program to gain insights about leadership from leading institutions in the world.

At the end of the discussion, an open forum was also conducted for USC Officers and Sirmata journalists to ask queries regarding the program, as well as voice out their perspectives in leadership, taking into account the current situation of the country.

The Bagani Rising Leaders Development Program is an initiative of the Development Academy of the Philippines that is completely funded by the Philippine government. Its goal is to train young leaders who are aged 18-30, who are from the National Government Agencies (NGAs), Local Government Units (LGUs), and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK), as well as student leaders from universities, colleges, and vocational institutions. The program is in line with DAP’s mandate of providing quality education for individuals who intend to enter public service.

Interested applicants may visit their website https://bagani.my.canva.site/ or their official Facebook page, “BAGANI: Rising Leaders’ Development Program”.