Every member of Alpha Phi Omega is admitted with the expectation that he or she will strive to learn how to become an effective leader. While it is often said that to be a leader one must first be a follower, APO Theta UPLB believes that to become a true leader one must first learn how to lead oneself. This involves becoming fully aware of personal strengths and weaknesses and attaining a higher level of self-discipline and responsibility.
Often those who view themselves as leaders soon realize that they fall far short of the gold standard because they have ignored the primary task of the true leader - to know oneself. Only by mastering oneself can anybody truly have the ability to lead others with confidence and humility.
Even as Alpha Phi Omega is a fraternity and sorority, it depends on Friendship to forge a keen spirit of lifelong brotherhood and sisterhood among members. APO Theta UPLB is just as much a microcosm of Philippine society as the UP system itself. When you become part of APO, you will soon be interacting with people who you otherwise would have not even bothered to get to know. In the end, you will learn to count on them as brothers and sisters in the same cause.
In Alpha Phi Omega, we strip ourselves of preconceptions and prejudices to best grasp our common humanity. It is the cardinal principle of Friendship that imbues our members with the ability to look beyond the superficial and recognize the essential.
Without the willingness to serve others, there is no point to joining Alpha Phi Omega. Our raison d'etre is service to others and it is no stretch of the truth to say that Alpha Phi Omega has been training real servant leaders well before the phrase was even coined. No college organization even comes close to the amount of service-hours that APO members render to their universities and colleges, their communities, their nations, and their own organization.
When you join Alpha Phi Omega, you will find yourself possessed not just with a fleeting infatuation for service but with a deeply held personal conviction to live your life in the service of others.
As with the Scouting Movement upon which our ideals are based, members of Alpha Phi Omega all aspire to:
"Be a Leader, Be a Friend, Be of Service."