“We will not be endorsing any candidate for the 2010 elections.”
Sanggunian President Gio Tingson himself gave this statement in an interview with The GUIDON last year. But just a few months after, it seems that his statement doesn’t ring true.
For the past years, it has not been in Ateneo’s tradition to promote a candidate. In the 2004 and 2007 elections neither the Sanggu nor the university had a collective stance on which candidate to support. Perhaps the closest one Ateneo has gone in taking a stand is going against deposed president Joseph Estrada and President Gloria Arroyo in the anti-Erap and anti-Gloria movements.
More recently, however, the Alternative Class Program (ACP) seemed to be promoting a candidate: Noynoy Aquino. ACP is sponsored by the “I am Ninoy-I am Cory” movement and the event’s website (acp0910.tumblr.com) prominently carries the logo.
Arguably, “I am Ninoy-I am Cory” and the Sanggu forged this partnership for a more effective and diverse ACP. It can even be possible that the Sanggu has not thought that making the said movement a sponsor can give off the impression that Ateneo supports presidential candidate Noynoy Aquino.
Still, constant exposure to things skewed to certain parties (the “I am Ninoy” foundation being one of them) may influence people to think Sanggu—or even Ateneo as a whole—supports a single candidate. There is power behind the images and messages consciously or unconsciously given by influential groups, such as the Sanggu.
The point is not that The GUIDON is against any candidate. The Sanggu should be more careful in choosing sponsors and more critical of the images and impressions they are sending to the Ateneo community in an event as widespread as ACP. Why not choose a nonpartisan org to partner with? Why choose “I am Ninoy-I am Cory” when the Atenean can so easily make the connection with Noynoy?
More than simply saying, “We will not be endorsing any candidate for the 2010 elections,” attention should also be given to elements beyond words, like images, impressions, subliminal messages—all of which must be part of the critical thinking so crucial for our choices beyond 2010.
We understand the apprehension conveyed in your editorial (“Careful, careful”), as we in the Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. Foundation are equally careful not to “politicize” our activities. After all, whatever happens in the May elections, our work will continue—and it would not do us any good to tarnish the integrity of the Foundation by giving its programs a partisan political flavor.
For the record, the iamninoy campaign was launched on Aug. 21, 2008 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the assassination of Ninoy Aquino. At that time, we deemed it opportune to introduce Ninoy to a new generation of Filipinos who did not really get to know him and the ideals he stood for. The tenor of the campaign was not skewed to create a Ninoy “cult” of sorts; on the contrary, it sought to surface the hero in ordinary Filipinos.
The response to the campaign among the youth was overwhelming. They sent us email messages, poems, songs, blogs, pictures, videos, and all sorts of user-generated content expressing their own sense of selfless heroism. Thanks to their generous patronage of iamninoy merchandise, we were able to raise over P2.2 million from Aug. 2008 to Aug. 2009 for the various advocacies and beneficiaries of our retail partners.
With the passing of President Cory Aquino, BSAF has elevated the campaign into the iamninoy-iamcory movement, the core youth program of the Foundation, which we launched on her birthday last Jan. 25. Moving forward, we would like to deepen the engagement with the youth by opening avenues by which they could “live out the spirit of sacrifice” in the service of our marginalized countrymen. Our participation as co-sponsor of the Ateneo Alternative Class Program had been framed in this context, which is why we helped the ADMU Sanggunihan invite resource speakers who could provide diverse perspectives for doing socially relevant work.
It would be unfortunate if many Ateneans share your view that the perception of political undertones, while inevitable, has overshadowed our common mission to open young minds to new possibilities in the service of God and country. For our part in the Foundation, we remain strong in our faith that Ateneans are discerning enough to know when they are being inspired and when they are being deceived.
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam.
Ruben V. Tangco (HS’71, GS’67)
Managing Director
iamninoy-iamcory movement
Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. Foundation