THE SANGGUNIAN General Elections last February did not feature the Partido Ignacio – IBIG-Agila showdown that dominated the Ateneo political scene a few years ago, nor did it play stage to a numbers game of‘neutral’ color-themed coalitions born of a 2009 student party moratorium. Instead, the oldest student party in the Loyola Schools (LS) fought a three-way battle against a year-old coalition composed of new faces and a defunct party’s old stalwarts, and a newly formed political union challenging the dominant Ateneo politics with its ideological conviction. All three groups promised change and an improved Sanggunian. The GUIDON takes a look into their party identities, and presents how they plan to address the issues that the student government is expected to face.
IsaBuhayIsaGawa – Agila (IBIG-Agila)
IBIG-Agila is the 2008 merger of Partido Agila—which was established in 2003—with the then newly formed IBIG. Its continuous history since 2003 makes it the oldest student political party in the LS still in existence. The party’s standard-bearer last elections, Misha Solano (IV BS HSc), speaks on the party’s position on some of the vital issues:
Student representation
Conduct a Grand Consultation at the start of the school year to pinpoint the concerns of students based on empirical data
Ask the students for concerns they want the officers to lobby for in School or Central Board meetings, and committee meetings
Post the schedules of school and central board meetings online
Sanggunian visibility
Maximize the Sanggunian website by posting minutes of meetings
Address the issue of relevance by showing that “[the Sanggunian] can make things happen and [it] makes things happen.”
Internal systems
Maximize the potential of the Department of Student Leadership and Development in forming members
Unaccredited orgs
Guide the members of the League of Independent Organizations (Lions) in forming and enacting their respective visions and missions
Politicization of the Ateneo
Encourage members of the community to include local and national issues in their daily conversations
Capitalize on the proliferation of new rising political parties and coalitions
Alliance of Student Leaders (ASL)
Formerly known as the Ateneo Servant Leaders, the year-old coalition was formed by “a group of Ateneans fervent in their commitment to uphold student-leadership grounded on collective representation and service.” The coalition rebranded itself as the “Alliance of Student Leaders” because of a ruling that the name ‘Ateneo’ cannot be used in a coalition name. ASL is also notable for serving as the new home to many former members of the now defunct Partido Ignacio.
Student representation
Initiate a more active, student-centered consultation process to address the specific and immediate needs of the studentry
Promote the Ateneo Student Concern Center to all the batches
Sanggunian visibility
Conduct kumustahan sessions with the students and the officers
Utilize online groups to communicate with the different batches
Internal systems
Utilize block and course representation for school-wide consultations
Unaccredited orgs
Integrate other young, unaccredited organizations into the Lions
Politicization of the Ateneo
Emphasize the “ability of students to be agents for change”
Consult the students on the national issues they want to support and advocacies they want to lobby for
Offer project grants to students who have good politics-based initiatives
Christian Union for Socialist and Democratic Advancement (Crusada)
“Representation, consultation, decentralization!”—Ateneo’s neophyte political party exploded into the scene last elections with its bold, leftist, social democratic ideology. In the particular context of university politics, though, Crusada is determined to “go back” to the Sanggunian’s ‘main functions’: mediation between the students and the administration. Moreover, it seeks to establish its four main thrusts through its platform for governance: equality, justice, solidarity and freedom. When it comes to the major concerns affecting Ateneo student life, Crusada has this approach:
Student representation
Present the Sanggunian as a democratic institution that mediates students’ concerns to the administration
Tap block and course representatives to voice out the concerns of the students, instead of having them simply serve asvehicles for information dissemination
Promote student empowerment, as the current Sanggunian “appears as an exclusive institution”
Sanggunian visibility
Personally consult and ask people about their concerns
Avoid “organizing task forces from the top down… since specific organizations already do quite well on performing such duties”
Internal systems
Initiate discourse on the officers’ leadership principles
Politicization of the Ateneo
Support the existence of political parties and hear out their ideologies
Look into student apathy: does it really exist, or does the Sanggunian address issues that do not reflect the students’ sentiments?
“ASL is also notable for serving as the new home to many former members of the now defunct Partido Ignacio.”
As of the moment, no one from ASL was ever part of Partido Ignacio except for Drew Copuyoc who didn’t even run under ASL last Sanggu elections.