THE COUNCIL of Organizations of the Ateneo (COA) elected Bea Ruiz (3 BS COMTECH) as the new President of the COA Central Board (CB), after the council released the results of the COA CB Regular Elections 2017 on April 7.
According to Ruiz, her decision to run for COA President came just a week before the deadline, adding that her desire to help improve COA, as well as her high hopes for the following year, pushed her to run for the position.
“In more ways than one, I found myself constantly thinking of ways on how COA could be better in serving its constituents,” said Ruiz.
Moreover, Michael Bernil (4 BS Bio) was elected Chief-of-Staff, while Aliena Miranda (4 BS APS/PS-MSE) was elected as Vice President of Organization and Research. The three vacated positions are under the COA Executive Board (EB).
Meanwhile, Mariel Perez (3 BS CH) and Joseph Singson (3 BS ME) will serve as the new Cluster Head and Secretary-Treasurer for the Science and Technology Cluster respectively.
Slots for Business Cluster Head, Media and Creative Arts Cluster Head and, Media and Creative Arts Secretary-Treasurer remain vacant due to the lack of votes for the candidates in the three positions.
Voter turnout for the Regular Elections was 64/78 or 82.05% of the voting population of the COA CB and the COA Council of Representatives (COR).
The voting body for the Executive Board positions consisted of the outgoing COA COR, while the outgoing Cluster Boards made up the voting body for the Cluster Head and Secretary-Treasurer positions.
In service of Ateneo orgs
In an interview with the GUIDON, outgoing COA President Winonah Siy expressed her support for the new set of COA CB officers.
“I wish the new COA CB officers good luck and may they have a bright and fruitful year ahead of them,” she said.
Siy also added that the new COA CB officers should be receptive and responsive to situations happening beyond the council and the organizations themselves.
Ruiz on the other hand stressed that her plans as the incoming COA president will focus on re-establishing the council’s role as a relevant supporting body for Ateneo organizations, student leaders, and the members as well.
“Our CB will be more proactive in finding ways to be of support to organizations despite the diversity of competencies and advocacies that we have to work with,” said Ruiz.
Aside from this, Ruiz said that a Constitutional Convention is being considered as a means to re-assess the council’s current roles, specifically regarding representation, administration, formation, and responsibilities.
