THE POLITICAL party formerly known as the Christian Union for Socialist and Democratic Advancement (CRUSADA) announced a change in name to the “Union of Students for the Advancement of Democracy Ateneo de Manila University (USAD AdMU)” to reflect solidarity with the USAD parties of Xavier University (XU) and Ateneo de Zamboanga (AdZU).
In a speech given to freshmen during the Orientation Seminar (OrSem) on August 3, USAD Premier Lanz Espacio outlined the shift in the party’s focus, as it seeks to coordinate with the other social democratic parties in the other campuses.
According to him, the decision was not a unilateral one by the Ateneo de Manila party, but a concerted effort by the regional parties.
In a joint statement together with Sitti Chua and Francis Urbina, the Premiers of USAD AdZU and USAD XU respectively, Espacio said that the name change served to “form the largest network of student political parties across the Jesuit-run Universities in the country.”
The change was prompted by “[USAD’s] expansion in Mindanao Universities and [a] shifting political climate.” USAD AdZU and USAD XU were founded in 2014 and 2015 respectively.
Core principles
According to the statement, the party sought to present a “genuine expression by the former Ateneo CRUSADA to advance unity and build solidarity in USAD Ateneo.”
According to Espacio, the name change arose out of the expansion of the former CRUSADA to Zamboanga City and Cagayan de Oro.
“[The name change] is an expression of our solidarity with our sister parties. Being in different campuses and universities, a change in name is symbolic, in many ways, that we’re one with not only our parties, but in general, of Mindanao,” Espacio said.
Moreover, Espacio said that the name CRUSADA conjures images of religious conflict and would not be conducive in the Mindanaoan context.
“‘Yung pangalan na CRUSADA has a negative connotation when we bring it to Mindanao, that’s why USAD talaga ‘yung pangalan to begin with in those parties (The name CRUSADA has a negative connotation when we bring it to Mindanao, that’s why USAD was the original name to being within those parties),” Espacio said.
According to Espacio, there were some who questioned the removal of these characteristics in the party name.
“It implies a fundamental change within the party,” he said.
However, Espacio maintained that USAD AdMU would retain its original character. He said that there would be no break in the stances of the party.
“Essentially, the Constitution of the party remains. It’s just the change in name lang talaga,” he said.
He said that the removal of the words “Christian union” and “socialist” in the political party’s name elicited a lot of reactions, but he reiterated that this does not imply a change in vision.
“We remain a Christian union; we remain to have a socialist vision through democratic means… It’s just that we decided to change the name in response to the context that we have right now,” he added.
National network
Instead, the former CRUSADA’s name change reflects a deeper cooperation and coordination among the three parties.
“We’re beginning to build this national party for students with regards to espousing the very principles and visions we have as a party,” Espacio said.
Espacio said that the consolidation of social-democratic parties among the Jesuit universities will allow for the greater rapport with other campuses.
“Essentially, we’re in the process of building that kind of network of social-democratic parties, not just within the three universities but also possibly reaching out to the other two universities, that is [in] Naga and Davao,” he said.
As the incumbent Premier of USAD AdMU, Espacio also plans to have a convention where the parties can meet and discuss issues relevant to their regions.
“[This convention is] where we can, one, contextualize the different issues within the universities, what is important to every student body in the Ateneo, within Manila, within Zamboanga, within Xavier University, and second, to also form our members on the same programs that we’re of course contextualizing,” he said.
However, Espacio maintained that the distance between the campuses restricts any coordinated action from happening until the near future.
“In terms of concrete plans, or concrete projects, given that we’re in different geographical locations, I doubt we can mobilize,” he said.
Beyond the ballot box
However, Espacio said that the name change does not have a discernible effect on USAD’s odds in the local electoral politics in the Sanggunian. He said that student politics is not one of their priorities in achieving their advocacies.
“So far, with USAD AdMU, we’ve been firm in saying that for us, the student government is one of the lesser forms of engaging the politics here on campus,” he said.
He said that election to the student government is “not as an end in itself, but as one of the strategies [USAD] has been identifying.”
Moreover, Espacio wants to engage in activities outside of the local scene, preferring outside engagement with external groups. The former CRUSADA has been involved in the causes of the Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA) and the Ateneo Employees and Workers Union (AEWU).
“Since our student government has been mainly concerned with, say, services, [and] not politicization, we’ve been trying to achieve our vision on campus through other means,” he said.
In light of this, Espacio hopes to introduce a “general party platform” in order to project unity within the network of parties. He said that they hope to achieve this by introducing a “common political education program” to the other campuses, where political education is not as developed as in Manila.
“Since it’s been only two to three years since XU and ADZU have been formed with their respective universities, hindi pa sila ganoon ka-developed, I guess. So with regard to say, the political education, organizational development, we’re helping them out,” he said.
“We hope to bring the kind of training, the intellectual capacity and the political formation that USAD AdMU has been doing for the past six years,” he added.
