“The Sanggunian experienced three straight failures of election. What factors do you think led to this and how should these be addressed next school year?”
“There is an alarming dissonance between the student body’s expectations of the Sanggunian and the Sanggunian’s actual roles and functions in the Ateneo community. This dissonance is caused by the forgetfulness shared by the candidates and their constituents–they have forgotten the reason for the existence of the Sanggunian. In the absence of a shared reason for its existence, each individual, candidate and concerned constituent alike has decided to impose on the Sanggunian their own expectations for it. As this occurs, the spaces for discourse begin to be occupied and consumed by noise, and disinterestedness spreads among the majority of the students who are hardly interested to begin with. This disinterestedness takes root, slowly causing the failure of elections that we experience today. Once the student body decides to rebuild the Sanggunian, they must first remember why the Sanggunian exists. The participation of the whole Ateneo community, from the students all the way to the admin, is required in this endeavor, for the question of the purpose of the Sanggunian has long been forgotten, and the spaces that have been created by our failure calls all of us to look, to think and to remember what was lost.”
Nick Lucero, Head, Constitutional Amendment Process
“The student body’s lack of awareness of the duties of Sanggu caused the failure of the first election. Frankly, I think the students don’t see the importance of exercising their duty to vote since there is a collective sentiment that Sanggu does not really affect student life. The succeeding failures of election, I think, stemmed from the inconvenience caused [by the Comelec’s system failure] to the students. Fewer students were enticed to vote since voting the first time was already considered a chore. To address this lack of interest, it might be best for Sanggu to launch an information campaign as to what their role really is in the promotion of Ateneo student welfare.”
Gelo Templonuevo (II BS CTM)
“In my opinion and personal experience, the Sanggunian’s significance to student life is not apparent and thus not felt. Even though it (the Sanggunian) tries to create and implement projects, some, if not most, do not address pressing concerns and particular needs of the student body. If the people who should benefit from the service of their student government do not feel any sense of support or empowerment, then the Sanggunian should not expect any support from their constituents come election time. I think that this year, the Sanggunian should let their work speak for themselves, perform with the Ateneo students in mind and hopefully its effects will trickle down to those who really need the help. The best way to gain our trust and votes is to earn it and show us that the Sanggunian deserves it.”
Louie Cartagena (II BFA ID)
“[Off the] top of my head, I can think of several factors. One, it may be cultural. Ateneo culture as perceived by Ateneans is not one of activism or political participation. There’s this pervading notion, at least during my time up to now, that the student government is just all noise and same old, same old, that it’s just the same things in different packages. I’m not a political scientist, but maybe there’s no polarizing issue also to talk about. Last I heard political noise within the Loyola Schools, it was about the dress code. The Sanggunian was tangling with the admin about it.Also, maybe the students are so into academics that they don’t mind these political exercises anymore. That might also mean that things are relatively okay, the status quo works, for the most part. Sure, everyone wants reform, but maybe it’s not enough to encourage people to participate. That’s a sad thing, actually. There’s always room for change, but maybe it’s not that great to compel people to do something about it.”
Pochi Velasquez, Instructor, Psychology Department
“I think one reason for the successive failure of elections is that to the student population, the Sanggunian has become irrelevant and at best, merely a body that disseminates information coming from the school admin. Come elections, candidates promise various projects for the students, but these projects either don’t push through or are implemented poorly. I think the projects of Sanggu have failed to engage us and answer our needs [and] wants. That’s why we’d rather not vote. Instead, we’d (students) rather invest ourselves elsewhere, perhaps in COA (Council of Organizations of the Ateneo) orgs, where we feel our needs are being met or our efforts for a project are not wasted.”
Fara Vergara (III BS HS)
