AS THE academic year nears its conclusion, the Ateneo Commission on Audit (ACoA) and Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) deemed the Sanggunian’s service adequate, citing satisfaction in initiatives such as One Big Pride and March of Women, while still noting a significant disconnect with constituents.

Notably, an impeachment complaint was filed against Sanggunian President Bernice Mendoza on the grounds of gross neglect of duty last March 8. Upon investigation, the Ateneo Student Judicial Court deemed the complaint to be “without merit” and declared Mendoza not guilty of the allegations.

Contesting this decision, petitioner Jacob Sison (4 AB POS) filed a motion of reconsideration last April 13, arguing that the intent to commit gross neglect was proven by the evidence and testimonies heard during the trial. Furthermore, he asserted that
“consciously avoiding one’s work” should also be considered when determining gross neglect.

As the head of the Sanggunian’s official investigative arm, Ombudsman Ethan Gargantiel confirmed that the common theme for complaints filed this year against elected Sanggunian officials involved their delayed and ambiguous responses.

Meanwhile, ACoA Chief Commissioner Danathea Ilaya remarked that the Sanggunian’s budget utilization rate had improved from the previous year since one of the schools maximized nearly 80% of its allocated budget.

Conflicted outcomes

As ACoA oversaw the Sanggunian’s management of funds and expenditures, Ilaya said that the different schools maximized their budgets better than the previous year. However, she shared that their budget hearings typically exceeded the usual three to five days.

“[The Sanggunian is] smarter with their money now compared to last school year, […] it’s just that some of their reasonings for some of their budget aren’t really on par,” Ilaya remarked.

In terms of budget allocation, she also noted how funds were primarily funneled into inter-Sanggunian projects instead of student body projects. Gargantiel echoed similar sentiments, citing the Sanggunian’s “hardly-felt” external presence.

When discussing the Sanggunian’s overall performance, Ilaya noted that year-end evaluations have not been finalized since the semester is yet to end. As for the OMB, Gargantiel remarked that while the Sanggunian had its flaws, it was maintained to the best of its members’ abilities.

Evaluating actions

Sharing her office’s experience, Sanggunian Vice President Czarina de Marcaida mentioned that the Office of the Vice President was still able to achieve its member and system development goals throughout the year despite challenges involving communication troubles and member burnout.

With the Sanggunian’s numerous internal and external collaborations, de Marcaida further explained that lapses in information dissemination caused delays in communication.

In addition, de Marcaida highlighted that the Sanggunian has been flexible when dealing with member burnout. “Whenever we think that the members can’t do it anymore, as much as we can, we try to reshape our initiatives to fit what our [members] can give,” she said.

Meanwhile, Sanggunian Commission on Socio-Political Development Co-commissioners Joy Arcigal and Mika Tan believed that their flagship projects succeeded in boosting student participation. They cited that the commission collaborated with various organizations for their activities and opened up sign-ups for volunteers, which many students took up.

Nevertheless, Arcigal and Tan underscored their commission’s lack of manpower, student engagement, and context regarding pressing issues. “Given the number of initiatives we wanted to highlight, it honestly does not correspond to the capacity of the commission,” Tan shared.

Sharing her evaluations, Ateneo Assembly Executive Director for Politicization Phoebe De Leon commended various initiatives under the Sanggunian commissions such as the Martial Law Commemoration and EDSA Commemoration.

However, De Leon noted that initiatives often see the recurring attendance from the same set of individuals and organizations. “Kung pare-parehong tao lang ‘yung mga pumupunta sa events mo (If only the same people go to your events), I think you really need to re-evaluate how you market these events and find other ways to spark curiosity in Ateneans that don’t [usually] engage in these events,” De Leon expressed.

Enhancing visibility

Despite the mixed feedback evident throughout the academic year, de Marcaida believed that the Sanggunian was able to amplify the voices of students who directly approached them. Nonetheless, she acknowledged that the Sanggunian is still disconnected from a “huge chunk” of the student body.

Elaborating on her hopes for the incoming Sanggunian, De Leon emphasized that the student council should exert more effort in hearing out their constituents’ concerns, such as this year’s focus group discussions regarding the cut system.

“This year, we generally noticed a hesitation [from the Sanggunian] to side with the students. […] I feel like that’s something that the Sanggu has to get over because, in the first place, we’re the ones that voted them in and not the [Ateneo] administration,” De Leon conveyed.

With this, de Marcaida is hopeful that the incoming Sanggunian does not forget their main objective of serving and representing the student body.