TIME AND time again, aspiring leaders strive for student office in hopes of resolving the Sanggunian’s lack of relevance. In the past years, students have noted that the student government’s presence still feels disconnected from their constituents’ concerns. 

Amid this persistent gap between intent and actual engagement, the question lies not only in whether aspiring Sanggunian officials truly seek to represent the student body, but more so in how they plan to engage the majority.

Behind visibility

With the continued contention on the presence of the Sanggunian, the student government has made strides in the present academic year to establish their role and scope of work.

In particular, the Sanggunian has been conducting consultations with sectors involved in decision-making processes for its initiatives. For instance, their “ConstiConversations” aim to use contextualized student insight to ground planned amendments to the 2019 Undergraduate Constitution.

The student government has also been releasing transparency reports for both council- and administration-related matters. Furthermore, the current academic year has seen an increase in mobilizations facilitated by the student government, as well as solidarity statements on national and international issues.

Despite these efforts, there remains a disconnect in the way student concerns are addressed. For instance, there are mechanisms aimed to make food more affordable for students, such as food stubs as well as dialogues with the administration. However, these efforts remain insufficient, as scholars continue to call for stronger food security on campus. 

In a similar manner, existing subsidies—particularly for mental health—are often underutilized due to lapses in implementation, such as a long processing period. These barriers to access echo broader apprehensions many Ateneans have expressed regarding the Sanggunian’s budget allocation.

When initiatives remain difficult to access or slow to materialize, they reinforce the idea that the Sanggunian’s intentions do not translate into tangible and meaningful outcomes. Over time, these lapses become perceived as absence, with the student government’s efforts remaining unknown to the overall student body.

Greater transparency and sociopolitical engagement may be steps in the right direction, but the Sanggunian’s reach is still under contention. With constituency checks garnering responses from less than half of the student population, questions remain on how these efforts will be converted into concrete, on-the-ground impact that resonates with the student body.

The gap between intent and involvement becomes even more apparent when viewed through other means of student participation. This year’s Sanggunian General Elections recorded a 7.85% decrease in voter turnout from the preceding year’s 30.18%, signaling continued disengagement from a significant portion of the student body.

Bridging resolve and results

With the gap between the Sanggunian and the student body evident as early as electoral participation, there is an urgent need to reach out to undergraduates and increase their involvement in student governance. Feedback mechanisms may have already been introduced this academic year, but bridging the divide with students requires more than passive initiatives.

While several initiatives have sought to improve workflow and develop consultation processes, these efforts have had limited visibility, leaving students who are not attuned to the Sanggunian unaware and disengaged. 

More tangible and concrete initiatives, such as townhalls, workshops, and talks have been present to engage the student body, but these still resulted in limited participation. These realities point to the need for a more visible Sanggunian. 

The Sanggunian should also consider a more efficient and responsive budget utilization, ensuring that every peso in their budget is felt and seen by Ateneans.

Beyond addressing all these issues, incumbent officials bear the responsibility of ensuring changes and initiatives will be standardized for succeeding academic years. There is a challenge in institutionalizing initiatives and in ensuring that bills aiming to improve transitions between officers and financial procedures are passed.

As a student government, the Sanggunian has the responsibility to represent the needs and voices of Ateneans. However, for representation to be effective, they must ensure that students are empowered to actively participate in student governance.

From presence to impact

With all the existing initiatives of the Sanggunian, the conversation now needs to move beyond relevance. 

Student leaders have shown themselves to be present and active not only through on- and off-campus mobilizations, but also in initiatives that cater to some needs of the student population. 

However, a truly effective Sanggunian needs to go beyond relevance and instead focus on felt impact. Hence, the next set of Sanggunian leaders must not rest on reforms and new mechanisms—what they must do is ensure that their initiatives are visible, accessible, and followed through to directly address student needs while empowering the broader Ateneo community to engage in important conversations around campus.