Leaders are there for different reasons. What fuels them to aspire to serve is the basis that voters should use to elect or reject them.

Listening to each of the candidates’ answers to very specific issues of our time can reveal just how their minds work. While some are not the best speakers, what they do say matters more than how they say it.

The story of Gregorio del Pilar, nicknamed Goyong, is a good way to gauge the kind of leaders we need now.

If it seems strange to cull wisdom from something that happened 120 years ago, well, Goyong’s story, as told in the movie Goyo, offers a lesson to be learned in these times more than ever.

From the way events transpired at the time, when Filipinos were struggling to establish national sovereignty, a glaring truth stands out. A weakness and strength in the Filipino character is we tend to let our emotions rule rather than our wits. When push comes to shove, the bravest will go forth to the death; the rest will scatter in fear. It usually reaches this point because leaders don’t strategize or look too far ahead.

During the Spanish occupation, Filipino leaders seemed far too preoccupied squabbling among themselves, going as far as to assassinate Antonio Luna, the general who refused to bow to the Americans but whose ways were too rough — one may call it abrasive — to get the support of those who saw an opportunity to profit from an alliance with the foreigners.

Luna and his men called them puppets. In an early scene where Del Pilar, tagged the Boy General – he was only 24 – was urging one of Luna’s allies to join Emilio Aguinaldo’s revolutionary army, the man laughed in his face and called him no better than a dog, then howled. The man laughed out all his despair and disgust before he was shot by prison guards as Goyo walked away, visibly shaken.

The main point of the story — although it is meant to be a closer look at the young general who was favored by Aguinaldo — is that Philippine leaders at the time failed to see beyond their own egos to use the five months of relative peace (before the Americans began to strike) to plan for the nation’s advantage.

Aguinaldo was portrayed as too busy making sure he had loyal people around him; Del Pilar was preoccupied being the hero and ladies’ man; and the officers of the land were behaving like boys on a break from the battlefields. In that lull, the Americans were planning their next attack.

Meanwhile, the locals gave their all performing for the “hero” and idolizing his fine form on horseback.

The politicians at the time were guided by their alliances and ruled by self-interest. President Aguinaldo was deemed ineffective by those opposed to his leadership.

We still have these different kinds of politicians in government. Some are selfish and some are principled.

Goyong may have been a good brigadier general, but he and his men were caught “like sitting ducks,” as the Americans described them, as they waited for enemy troops atop Tirad mountain.

The problem may have been that there was no solid plan of defense or attack, no plan A or B when US soldiers did arrive.

The Americans found a way to approach the Filipino troops, guided by a native who betrayed his countrymen by showing the secret path to a higher position in the mountain and launched their attack.

The men that Goyo had gathered at Tirad Pass not only to protect and serve but to stand for a cause, bravely fought against the surprise move. The young general fired up their valor, but they were trapped and outnumbered. Goyo may have not foreseen the possibility of being attacked from another angle. It was also obvious the men lacked training and a firm hold on any plan. It was deemed a tactical victory for the Americans.

These historic events, though fictionalized, happened 120 years ago. This alone makes it disturbing because we can still see the same characters — or maybe it is better to say characteristics — today.

When it comes to heroic bravery, Filipinos have plenty. When we are fired up, we are fearless. But being all heart sometimes, we fail to see logic and sense. It takes someone who appears heartless to see through fogs of emotion.

When it comes to facing threats or bigger powers, the toughest keep their wits about them.

Some, however, surrender without a second thought, keeping only their own survival in sight.

Now that another chance has come to choose leaders, voters should learn to discern the kind of men or women who are eager to claim that privilege. Are they solid in their principles?

Do they have the skills? Do they possess good sense and the right experience for the job?

That is not to say that we should gauge them based on dead heroes. History should serve as a lesson, but if we have not learned anything, we will end up in the same trenches, defenseless and overpowered.