THE COUNCIL of Organizations of the Ateneo (COA) elected Bea Ruiz (3 BS CTM) as the new President of the COA Central Board (CB). 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 and eventually, I just knew,” said Ruiz.
On the close race against fellow presidential candidate Bea Racoma, Ruiz said she wasn’t surprised there was only a difference of two votes between them. “We both had our strengths and weaknesses… I have the perspective of a CB member and she had the perspective of an org leader,” she said.
“She was truly a tough opponent and I wish her luck with her future endeavors as well,” she added.
Moreover, Michael Bernil (4 BS Bio) was named Chief-of-Staff, while Aliena Miranda (4 BS APS/PS-MSE) was elected as Vice President of Organization Strategies 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.
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 said that the new COA CB officers should be more receptive and responsive to situations and realities happening beyond the council and the organizations.
On the policies she thinks the new CB should adapt from the previous administration, Siy hopes they could decide for themselves the efforts they wish to continue, as long as “they would listen to the organizations about what they organizations would need before choosing to create such efforts”.
In response to this, Bernil said he will push for a different approach on COA’s processes as its new Chief of Staff. “I will ensure that every member of the COA CB will engage effectively with their constituents by creating a system where the real problems of organizations will be discussed and solved by COA,” he said.
“The CB should also build on better communication with COA orgs, Sanggu, and the admin so that we have a dialogue on what services and efforts are necessary, and how to better execute those services and efforts,” said Miranda.
Miranda added that she and her co-CB members should be more trusting but at the same time critical of each other’s duties. “We have to be clear and critical because the work isn’t about us, it’s about the COA organizations and we should do whatever we can to support them,” she said.
Ruiz, on the other hand, took the disappointment from the previous term where she served as the Business Cluster Secretary-Treasurer as a challenge to do better as President. “We were unable to maximize our potential in serving the organizations. Next year, we’re going to change that,” said Ruiz.
“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,” she added.
Ruiz noted how important communication is in achieving such plans. “I’ll be able to communicate more and relate better with my CB by being open to the different working styles and being aware of our backgrounds. I will personally find ways for people within the council to work together and collaborate,” she said.
Special Elections
Slots for Business Cluster Head, Media and Creative Arts Cluster Head and, Media and Creative Arts Secretary-Treasurer were not filled during the Regular Elections due to the lack of votes for the candidates in the three positions.
The aforementioned positions, along with 20 other vacancies in the COA CB, will be occupied after the COA CB Special Elections 2017 that will be held from May 1-3.
The Special Elections will aim to elect four officers in the Executive Board, specifically the position of Secretary-General, Finance Officer, Vice President for Training and Development, and Vice President for Special Projects.
Moreover, the Special Elections will also be held to elect eight Cluster Heads and eight Secretary-Treasurers.
If and when there are still vacancies after the Special Elections, an appointment process will be done to occupy the available positions.
