Last school year, the Sanggunian has still failed to prove its relevance to majority of the student body. The irrelevance can be directly attributed to the mixed results of their pursuits.

The Sanggunian started the year by pushing for amendments to the constitution of the undergraduate students. Although the initiative was there, the effort did not prove to be success due to the lack of participation from the Central Board and its various sectors.

This was followed by the Grand Consultation held earlier in the year. It was successful, considering that it accomplished the Sanggunian’s goal of increased student feedback through surveys and focus group discussions. On the other hand, the Sanggunian’s attempts to encourage student involvement in national issues failed to achieve the same results. The enactment of the Oil Price Hike Awareness Act at the beginning of the year was dubbed “weak and problematic,” because the awareness the act was supposed to create did not usher in any substantial changes.

The new Sanggunian for the upcoming school year will not begin its term with a clean slate, since they will inherit the consequences of the successes and failures of the previous Sanggunian. Now that the elections is long over and the new officers have long taken their positions, how can the new Sanggunian actively respond to the challenges that lie ahead?

A number of issues have been raised in recent months, sparking countless debates about the role of the Sanggunian. For one, students may not feel that their voices are heard by the government that is meant to represent them. In addition to this, there have been calls for stronger consultation with the student body regarding the direction of the Sanggunian. Another issue is the administration’s financial transparency. As tuition fees increase incrementally every year, the Sanggunian remains the ideal channel for the student body to voice its concerns regarding exorbitant fees and the administration’s spending. A third issue is the involvement of the Sanggunian in national issues.

There are courses of action that the incoming Sanggunian can take in order to address these issues. While the amendments to the constitution have already been proposed in response to the problems the previous Sanggunians have faced, these amendments should still be further assessed and refined, given the controversy that surrounded these amendments during the nullified plebiscite. Once enacted, these amendments must then be properly implemented.

Systems must also be put in place to assess the effectiveness of these amendments, which are meant to promote student representation. In the coming school year, such efforts need to be more systematic and more aggressive and must involve more of the student body.

These are the important questions that now stand before the Sanggunian. The new officers’ response to these questions will define their year in office. The tall order of fulfilling their campaign promises and proving themselves to the students who voted them in is now upon them.