IN AN effort to recover from last year’s internal communication problems, Sanggunian Vice President Jb Bejarin (2 AB POS-MPM) plans to form a Code of Internal Procedures (CIP) to centralize the Sanggunian’s internal systems.

According to Bejarin, the CIP will be an official document that contains specific and detailed protocols for recruitment, internal events, statements, structure, work expectations, and the like. Moreover, he clarified that the CIP will not be part of the Sanggunian Constitution, as the latter ideally serves as the “foundation document.”

Bejarin also clarified that more protocols may be added while they are drafting the CIP as the document is “still an ongoing discussion”.

Bejarin planned to have the CIP drafted by the Sanggunian’s Office of the President and Office of the Vice President, along with each Loyola School representative. He also said that Ateneo Consultants for Organization Development and Empowerment (Ateneo CODE) will be consulted throughout the process. 

Bejarin said that he began the groundwork for the CIP in July 2019. He aims to have the document ready by the Council of Organizations of the Ateneo (COA) Recruitment Week (RecWeek) so that new Sanggunian members may study the CIP from the get-go.

He believes that by implementing the CIP early, the Sanggunian can avoid repeating the incidents of miscommunication from the previous term.  

Previous lack of communication

According to Bejarin, previous Sanggunian administrations did not have an official unified document that detailed its procedures.  He explained that this caused some internal miscommunication because procedures were not institutionalized. For him, the idea of having a CIP at that time seemed to be “simply overlooked” since rules like these are “very basic.”

Bejarin admitted to feeling “confused and lost” after joining the Sanggunian because unlike other organizations, they did not have formal documents that standardized systems and processes.

“Even in Central Assembly, we lack processes. And part of [the] processes is really being transparent with the people we serve,” he said.

Former Office of the Executive Secretary Undersecretary Von Carolino (2 AB COM) also agreed that a centralized CIP would help avoid unnecessary incidents of miscommunication.

To illustrate further, Carolino narrated a point of conflict involving last year’s School of Humanities (SOH) Sanggunian. On July 2, 2018, the SOH Sanggunian posted a statement that condemned Jollibee Food Corporation’s June 27, 2018 “public relations stunt” at Areté’s Ateneo Art Gallery.

The statement claimed that the presence of the Jollibee mascot in the Areté was an “insult to [Jollibee’s] workers,” especially since modernist galleries are meant to support workers who are “the true makers and innovators of what is modern and contemporary.”

Carolino said that SOH Sanggunian’s statement was deemed “too strong” for their centralized voice. Overall, he said that SOH Sanggunian used a tone that wasn’t approved by the entire Sanggunian.

“As Sanggu, we have to be politically impartial. If we’re going to represent this multiplicity of individuals, you can’t be ignorant by being so aligned to your own ideologies,” he stated.  

Additionally, John Gokongwei School of Management (JGSOM) Representative Mica Torres (3 BS MGT) also shared her thoughts on the “lack of communication” in last year’s Sanggunian.

Torres said that the members would often talk online because the Sanggunian only had a limited number of merged meetings. She added that this reliance on Facebook led to the disregard of some important documents that were coursed through the platform.

According to Carolino, he did not recall any formal document stating that they were required to meet up as an elected body. “Isn’t it weird that [the Sanggunian is] not required to meet up as an elected body?” he asked.

Potential solutions

Although Bejarin claimed that the Sanggunian has yet to have centralized internal processes, he also said that he is hopeful the CIP will help remedy this issue.

“In [the Sanggunian Office of the Vice President], [we] focus on strengthening the institution by implementing periodic assessments, evaluations, having planning seminars, and actually having procedures within,” Bejarin said. 

“Even though the schools are technically autonomous, in terms of procedure, I think we can all be the same,” he added. 

Carolino also said that the CIP would help “standardize some sort of systematic processes and level of output” among the different departments

“In my personal opinion, regardless if you’re a school [representative] Sanggu[nian] [member], you’re technically held accountable to a system which can’t make you independent of your other branches,” he stated.

He also explained that the Sanggunian was “structurally fragmented” because they lacked proper communication, and that becomes evident in their output, like the Jollibee statement.

To improve the crafting of these statements on current issues, Bejarin plans to include guidelines in the CIP for the formation of a central writing group that is “representative of everyone.” He hopes to have statements authored and agreed upon by the same Sanggunian departments involved in the drafting of the CIP.

He explained that through this inclusive and institutionalized process, statements would, ideally, represent the entire Sanggunian’s unified stance before its release. 

To address the lack of meetings, he explained that the CIP would also include work expectations such as attendance in internal events and meetings. This means that the Sanggunian will now have more opportunities to settle matters personally rather than online. 

Bejarin stressed that all these proposed protocols will be followed by all Sanggunian members regardless of the department they come from. 

Strong internals, strong Sanggu

Overall, Bejarin concluded that serving the community’s needs will entail focusing on internals as a way to strengthen the institution.

“The internal procedures [are] more than just rules, it’s the foundation of your org. And the foundation of your org translates to the culture of your org,” he said.

Carolino also acknowledged the relevance of internals, saying that the Sanggunian must fix their internals as soon as possible so that they may communicate better internally.

Similarly, Torres believes that the CIP would help the Sanggunian be “more organized and streamlined,” and promised to make JGSOM Sanggunian members aware of it. 

However, Bejarin added that since “creating new cultures is challenging,” he could not promise a perfect implementation of the CIP. Despite this, he shared that his team is determined to focus on the project’s potential to serve the Ateneo community’s needs, rather than its foreseen difficulties. 

“If Sanggu goes well and if we actually effectively work with our students, the school will be a better place,” he said.