Illustration by Meg C. Quintos

There are two striking things about the student-led bodies that govern the Loyola Schools (LS)’ student population: That we have an “irrelevant” student government, and a very strong culture of being active in student organizations.

On one hand, there is the Sanggunian, which continues to struggle to exist. Last year’s General Elections saw the vacancy of several positions in the student government, including the positions of president, vice president, secretary-general and finance officer. A number of pertinent positions at the School Board level were also left vacant.

The empty lines during the Sanggunian voting period can be starkly contrasted to the long lines to a crowded Manuel V. Pangilinan Center for Student Leadership Building Roof Deck during Recruitment Week. Aside from this, orgs are governed by their own council, the Council of Organizations of the Ateneo (COA), making the orgs more or less autonomous and separate from the Sanggunian.

An issue of redundancy

During last August’s Freshmen and Special Elections, the Ateneo de Manila Secret Files Facebook page was littered with rants regarding the Sanggunian’s efforts to persuade students to exercise their right to vote. One post read, “Ang tagal tagal na dapat naayos ‘yung [system of persuading people to vote] na ‘yan. First year pa lang ako, ‘yan na mga problema ninyo. Hindi ramdam ng students kung ano ba ‘yung silbi ninyo (That system of persuading people to vote should have been fixed long ago. When I was a freshman, you already had the same problems. The students do not feel what your purpose is).”

“Of course, [the LS’ strong org culture] affects the perception of what Sanggunian does,” says Karlo Abadines, president of COA. “Especially when a lot of the things that Sanggunian, which I learned recently as COA president, is in the shadows, is in the background, is in the things that really can’t be seen.”

Abadines says that how students perceive the Sanggunian is affected by orgs because they are much louder and their projects are more visible. This, in turn, gives the impression that the Sanggunian is less active, less present and less productive.

Another possible reason students lack enthusiasm for the Sanggunian could be attributed to the fact that the university already addresses most of their needs. Abadines notes that the university has “evolved to a level” where all offices and departments—like the Office of the Associate Dean for Student Affairs and the Guidance Office—are approachable and accommodating enough for students to communicate with, without the need for a middleman like the Sanggunian. “I would assume that [approaching offices] used to be so difficult,” he says, “and that’s why the Sanggunian seemed so relevant [in the past].”

Christopher Castillo, director of the Office of Student Activities (OSA), shares that it is innate in the culture and identity of the Ateneo to look after the wellness and concerns of its students. He says, “The Ateneo has already put all the necessary things in place that are necessary for you to feel precisely that: ‘Hey, I belong, I’m happy here,’ right?”

These beg the question, then: What is the role of the Sanggunian in the LS?

Place in society

Whether it is because of the strong org culture or because offices are readily available for student concerns, LS students often make the mistake that the Sanggunian is similar to other orgs—that its productivity and relevance are gauged only by its number of successful projects. However, its very functions do not necessarily translate to the same kind of tangible output that orgs come up with.

Article VII of the 2005 Constitution of the Undergraduate Students of the Ateneo de Manila Loyola Schools explains that the Central Board (CB) is both an executive and legislative body. As an executive and legislative body, the Sanggunian must create, review and approve policies for the good of their constituents and stakeholders.

The 2012 Undergraduate Student Handbook adds that the CB is tasked with the formulation and execution of both policies and projects of the Sanggunian while the School Boards assist the CB and govern the constituents of each school.

The student body’s lack of enthusiasm about the concept of a student government, as seen in last year’s failure of elections, makes it difficult to avoid comparing the LS’ situation with the apparent enthusiasm for student governments in other universities.

De La Salle University (DLSU) is almost the perfect converse of the Ateneo—whereas the LS sees a thriving culture of being active in orgs, DLSU’s student government is arguably more visible. Their recent freshmen elections were met with much excitement. The candidates reached quota and no positions were left vacant.

In an article entitled “Freshmen Elections 2014 : Santugon wins majority seats” published in The LaSallian last August, it was stated that on DLSU’s first day of voting, several of their schools “already received the 50-percent-plus-one votes needed to make the election valid.” The freshmen were also said to have been eager to participate in the election process and “the competition between the two political parties was closer than ever.”

On the other hand, students from the University of the Philippines-Diliman (UPD) are also greatly involved in their student government and campus politics, which is perhaps a reflection of how students from UPD are known for being very politically involved. According to an article entitled “73 candidates vie for 34 USC (University Student Council) posts” published in the Philippine Collegian last February, UPD students were to choose “from a pool of 73 candidates for the 34 seats” in the USC.

Collaboration

Considering that the Ateneo’s strong org culture affects students’ perception of the abilities and jurisdiction of the Sanggunian, many wonder if the student body could stand without the Sanggunian and rely on COA alone.

ADSA Rene San Andres believes that an org-dependent system could work, provided all students would have formal representation in the university. Every degree program, minor or major, would need to have its own “home” organization represented in COA. Without formal representation, students may “feel disempowered and become victims of injustice.” Currently, not all degree programs have home orgs, and some home orgs are not even accredited.

He says that the Sanggunian should constantly address the needs of their constituents, in the context of a “tertiary, Filipino, Jesuit and Catholic educational institution.” San Andres also hopes to re-evaluate the quota imposed on the Sanggunian elections. “It is not just about blaming the Sanggunian if they do not get the quota,” he says. “It is also about the Atenean as an engaged and responsible citizen.”

Abadines believes that COA could collaborate with the Sanggunian. “If Sanggunian continues with its old structure, with its old paradigm,” he says, “I don’t think it’s going to last.” Organization presidents should, at least, be part of the realigning process to “move the school” as different institutions.

He acknowledges that the past few years have been very competitive for the Sanggunian and COA. Even in terms of projects, he says, the Sanggunian only heads the work accomplished by other organizations. Abadines explains that he’s been pushing for more discourse on how COA and the Sanggunian could achieve the Ateneo’s goals together. “I think there are some things that I know COA cannot do but only Sanggunian can really do as an institution.”

Ateneo Resident Students Association (ARSA) President Moses Cam mentions that around 10% of the Ateneo’s population is composed of dormers, and ARSA would be open to asking for dormers’ opinions with regard to helping actualize certain advocacies and changes in the university. According to Cam, a sector must indubitably exist to voice students’ concerns and opinions regarding sociopolitical and national issues in the Ateneo.

Realigning governance

The recent Freshmen and Special Elections held last August were generally successful, despite a glitch in vote tallying for some course representatives.

The Sanggunian recognizes the success of the recent elections with renewed hope and optimism, as management engineering senior, Ryan Yu, an independent candidate, was re-elected as vice president and acting president of the Sanggunian.

Yu wants to revitalize the Sanggunian. To reach its goal of being relevant again, Yu emphasizes realignment, reorganization and rebuilding. Realigning entails going back to the core of the Sanggunian as a student government and putting that into the school’s current context. Reorganizing includes reimagining the structure to improve cross-functional and interdepartmental collaboration and unify the end goal and direction of the Sanggunian. Finally, rebuilding can be seen as the strengthening of the Sanggunian’s three constitutive elements.

However, because the student body composes most of the constituents of the Sanggunian, it is still ultimately the students who will be necessary to the restructuring and reformation of the Sanggunian.

For San Andres, what students can do to show what they feel is still by participating in elections. He says, “Abstain. [Refrain from not voting] if you want to make a statement about your student leaders. Don’t disappear during election. Go and submit an abstain vote. That’s the loudest statement if you’re not happy. Or support your own candidate—or better still: Run. That’s the Atenean challenge.”

The OSA, who according to San Andres works more closely with the Sanggunian, is reportedly working with the latter to create constitutional changes and restructuring throughout the school year, in preparation for the next.

These structural changes, Castillo hopes, could manifest into something that the Sanggunian could test out next school year. He also acknowledges that it probably will not be perfect, but it will be better.

For the successful restructuring of the Sanggunian, Castillo says two things are necessary: Selflessness from other orgs, and the desire to proactively collaborate with the Sanggunian—in the hopes of creating a more purposeful Sanggunian with a significant role in the LS student body.