CONCRETE PLANS are what students can look forward to in next year’s Council of Organizations of the Ateneo (COA).

And for incumbent COA Secretary-General Mina Reyes, this is exactly what the new batch of officers needs to make COA more relevant to more students.

“I do hope that the incoming COA president will focus more on making the Ateneans aware especially that they have 50 orgs under their supervision and more than 50% of the students are in organizations,” said The Assembly President Ross Tugade.

Incoming COA President Jemika Soledad plans to address this through five points: a mentoring system for COA officers, better communication with different offices, strengthening internal systems, creation of cluster horizontals and CB circles, and bettering COA awareness, representation, and public relations.

She also wants to focus on continuing what COA has established this year.

Points of improvement

Newly elected Secretary-General Kenneth Abante agrees with Soledad’s vision of improving communications and mentorship, but he added transparency and optimism to his list. “[Optimism is] my oath to the president, [that] whatever happens, we have to keep moving forward and stay positive in our work.”

Soledad also plans to improve COA’s relationship with the Sanggu more. “Instead of just the president attending Sanggu’s meetings, other COA Central Board members should also attend so they would see that [COA is] part of Sanggu,” she said in Filipino.

The officers also need more empowerment, said incoming Finance Officer Arianne Aguenza.  “Last year, the finance officer wasn’t that empowered and wasn’t given many opportunities to improve his being [the] treasurer,” she said in Filipino.

For the better. Incoming COA officers have a lot of work in their hand as expressed by performance of this school year’s COA board | Photo by Cherie B. Tan

Abante agreed, saying that “[The] SecGen is the most stressed but least cared for.”

Looking forward

Soledad looks forward to working with the COA Central Board 2010-2011. However, she hopes that her fellow candidates who did not win in the elections still offer their services to COA and to their respective organizations.

“I know that since we all have the unwavering passion for service, it doesn’t matter what title we have. Our passions will definitely find their way back to service,” said Abante.

Official list

The COA elections were held on February 2 and 3. The official results of the COA elections were released a day after the elections, February 4.

Positions for the Inter-Cultural Relations Cluster Head, Inter-Cultural Relations Secretary-Treasurer, and Sector Based Cluster Head were vied for in a run-off election on February 12.

COA President Miggy Zaballero said he trusts the new batch. “They are a feisty set of officers,” he said.

Gica Mangahas, Ateneo Debate Society president, was also pleased about the outcome of the elections, “I think the candidates were all very active and [tried] to get the voters or the org presidents involved in what their platforms were. I’m pretty confident that they will do a good job.”

“I just hope that it will be another great year for us all. I believe in [Jemika],” Rosalia Medina, Company of the Ateneo Dancers president, said.

The complete set of the new officers of COA is as follows:

Executive Board

Jemika Soledad (President)

Anna Cabatuando (Chief-of-Staff)

Kenneth Isaiah Abante (Secretary-General)

Arianne Aguenza (Finance Officer)

Ryan Uy (Vice President for Organization Research and Development)

Leslie Yu (Vice President for Special Projects)

John Vincent Bermudez (Vice President for Training and Development)

Cluster Board

Business Cluster

Michi Ayroso (Cluster Head)

Bianca Baluyut (Secretary-Treasurer)

Faith Formation Cluster

Roxanne Mercado (Cluster Head)

Gian del Rosario (Secretary-Treasurer)

Health and Environment Cluster

Marcus Javier (Cluster Head)

Aimee Choa-Yu (Secretary-Treasurer)

Issue and Policy Analysis Cluster

Erikha Villasanta (Cluster Head)

Kimberly Magtoto (Secretary-Treasurer)

Media and the Creative Arts Cluster

Joseph Teoxon (Cluster Head)

Rose Jurado (Secretary-Treasurer)

Performing Arts Cluster

Denise Villanueva (Cluster Head)

Shawn Ong (Secretary-Treasurer)

Sector Based Cluster

Daryl De Vera (Cluster Head)

Jan Christopher Rico (Secretary-Treasurer)

Science and Technology Cluster

Geoffrey Matthew Tan (Cluster Head)

Joy Codia (Secretary-Treasurer)

Inter-Cultural Relations

Coleen Bunao (Cluster Head)

Eileen Tan (Secretary-Treasurer)