Instead, the two parties will take a break and re-evaluate themselves, in light of changes in the Loyola Schools’ student political party system.

A Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) signed by representatives on January 21 identified Ibig-Agila and Ignacio as merely electoral coalitions, not parties.

The MOA says that for the coming elections, candidates must run individually, and not under the banners of Ibig-Agila or Ignacio. Candidates are not allowed to wear the two parties’ paraphernalia, or use their slogans.

The candidates can run under coalitions, however.

“We have to acknowledge that [the two parties] are still in an early stage of development,” said Office of Student Activities (OSA) Director Christopher Castillo. “They’re actually not yet a party, in the strict sense of the word…how they’re operating right now is mostly similar to that of a coalition,” he said.

“Although both parties have fulfilled their electoral function, it has been recognized…that a political party’s sphere of responsibility is not limited to preparing and fielding candidates for elections,” the preface to the MOA says.

The representatives who signed the MOA were Ibig-Agila Executive Director Jose Antonio Fernandez (IV AB Eu), Ignacio President Gabriel Lorenzo Ignacio (II BS LM), Comelec Chief Commissioner Ione Abergele Salud (IV AB Eu), Student Judicial Court Chief Magistrate Dennis Agustin Balictar Jr. (IV BS MIS), Sanggu President Omi Castañar (V AB DS), and Castillo.

“The missing function of our current political party systems is the agenda-setting function. A political party system should complement the work of a student council,” said Castañar.

The MOA enumerates steps in creating a “validated political party system” in the Loyola Schools.

Not a party
Ibig-Agila and Ignacio are the only Comelec-accredited political parties in the Ateneo. The two parties may seek re-accreditation next year.

According to Castañar, the parties had already started to re-evaluate themselves even before OSA and the various student orgs came out with the decision of the truce.

“[The party members] also think [of] what students say about political parties, how they’re just the same [and that] they only are really visible during the elections. And it really made them re-evaluate their identity and their value as a political party,” he said.

The truce will provide time for the parties to evaluate their core values and engage one another in “open and meaningful dialogue,” the MOA says.

As of press time, The GUIDON was unable to reach representatives of both parties for comment.

A single vote
Castillo said that one problem with the two political parties is that they promote slate-voting, or voting all or most of the candidates of a political party.

“May makikita kang (you’d see) signs [of] how people would do slate-voting. The difficulty with that is…that it doesn’t educate the electorate. [They’re] not made to think critically for the individual positions,” he said.

For Balictar, even a single vote is important. “The Sanggunian elections is definitely a big opportunity for the community to get to choose its next council leaders… Each vote…is a voice heard in a public arena and changes will happen if one gives importance to this,” he said.

Comelec Commissioner Jomar Reyes (III AB Eco) said the campaign period will start on February 5 to 18. A Miting de Avance for the School Board and Central board will be held February 16, while the Miting de Avance for the Top Board will be held February 18.

The general elections will be held February 19 to 20.

Reformation
To guide the parties’ accreditation and re-accreditation, OSA will create a Performance Management System (PMS) to be implemented next school year.

“If [the two parties] still see…that they still want to be [parties], or if they want to come together to form just one party, or fragment into different parties, it’s up to them. But they [Ibig-Agila, Ignacio, and all aspiring parties] will be subjected to the same performance management system and accreditation system [as the orgs],” said Castañar.

OSA, together with the Sanggu and representatives from Ibig-Agila and Ignacio, will create the PMS. The PMS will define a political party and will contain guidelines for its accreditation and recognition.

(For a full copy of the Memorandum of Agreement, please visit theguidon.com.)