IN LIGHT of the impeachment cases filed against School of Social Sciences (SOSS) Secretary-Treasurer Marvin Lagonera, the Christian Union for Socialist and Democratic Advancement (Crusada) released an online statement at 9:02 PM on December 6, expressing its support for Lagonera.

Lagonera has been charged with six different impeachment cases by the Ateneo Student Judicial Court (SJC) Prosecutor’s Office on December 2, including the following: Unconstitutional appointments in the SOSS SB and Central Board, usurping the SOSS chairpersonship, implementation of an illegal committee system, corruption and failure to keep transparency in the SOSS SB.

Lagonera is the current party chancellor of Crusada, the only accredited political party in the Ateneo.

In its official statement, Crusada blasted the claims put forward against Lagonera, calling the charges “a consolidation of rumors, half-truths and blatant distortion of the facts.”

“We are working closely with Marvin Lagonera so he could answer these charges and reveal the truth behind this nefarious campaign to discredit him, the SOSS Sanggunian’s numerous achievements, and Crusada,” the statement said.

As of press time, Chief Prosecutor Clyde Maramba has declined to comment.

Fighting back

One of the claims of the SJC Prosecution’s Office is that Lagonera failed to keep the records of the SOSS School Board (SB) transparent. Lagonera also allegedly falsified official SB documents.

In the statement, however, Crusada said that “the efforts Marvin has extended to create a more transparent and more receptive School Board should be lauded and not punished by this obvious case of political harassment.”

The prosecution also claims that Lagonera had offered a public office position to a student with the condition that she changes her political affiliation in favor Lagonera’s party.

Crusada denied that it benefitted from this act of corruption, calling the claim “ludicrous.”

“Marvin’s appointments were not driven by patronage, as these complaints would have us believe, but instead were directed by a sincere desire for placing competent and meritorious persons in positions of direct significance to the students,” Crusada’s statement said.

Crusada then went on to list down individual achievements of Lagonera, as well as the party’s collective achievements.

“At all times, the Party has stood in solidarity with victims of systemic corruption, fighting against the odds for oftentimes unpopular causes. To claim that it has acted in bad faith to serve only itself and its members borders on the absurd,” the statement said.

Crusada also noted the effect that the impeachment claims will have on the SOSS SB, stating its short-term and long-term effects.

According to the official statement, short-term effects include the prevention of proper implementation of future projects such as the Social Change Week and SOSS Week, among others.

Meanwhile, the statement said that the long-term effects include hindrances in the SOSS SB’s efforts to increase student body participation “ultimately aimed at having a successful election next school year.”

A warning

The statement said that while Crusada respects transparency in the government as well as the process and principles of a judicial review, the actions of the prosecution team is a “dubious use of judicial powers.”

Crusada said that the impeachment claims filed against Lagonera “have no warrant” and “are not grounded in the truth.”

“[T]hey serve no purpose other than political harassment, designed to stop the Party and its members from pursuing its goals in reforming the dysfunctional structures of the Sanggunian,” the statement added.

Crusada issued a rallying cry to all its members, asking them to continue faith and support in Lagonera as they call for “social justice in both our immediate circles and in the world beyond the walls of the Ateneo.”

Furthermore, the statement said that Crusada “will not stop until Marvin’s name is cleared and this Party is absolved of these baseless, ungrounded, and unwarranted allegations, [and] we shall not be deterred by this attempt at distorting the truth.”

Crusada also issued a warning to its critics.

“If it was the intent of our detractors to weaken our faith and to undermine our resolve, then their actions have achieved the exact opposite,” the statement said.

“We shall not simply stand aside and let a dysfunctional student government continue its reign of impunity and ignorance,” Crusada added.

“The Party united will never be defeated.”