The 2012 El Consejo Atenista Electionsby Kelvin J. Culajara

The gates have finally opened, the tables turned and the chairs set, and the solid metal barricade have been gallantly stood to bar the pre-cinct from the rest of the crowd—all for one purpose, all for one event: the El Consejo Atenista Election.

In a few days, Ateneans need to gather once more for an event which many see as either crucial or infamous, with convictions and voices as their ultimate weapons to strike the cam-pus politics. They will have to make a stand and redefine the leadership weather as their choices are what will hail or depose this year’s aspirants.

This season witnesses Adriel Earl Tori-bio leading One Ateneo with no rival-presidentiable to beat, and Evergisto Jose Miguel taking the independent lead as a vice-presidentiable with no ri-val from One Ateneo to outshine. This year’s election is a heated battle between them and the rest of the Ateneo college studentry who will be making a con-solidated choice where their fate rests.

The detailsThe university-wide election will for-mally commence on February 9, 2012 at the Bellarmine-Campion Lobby from 7:30am to 7:30pm. Katrina Re-medios Acuña, Ateneo Electoral sion (AELECOM) Chairperson, says they will be considering Nursing students on morning duties on the election day, thus, they will be making

the voting precincts available for them even as early as 7:00 in the morning.

Apparently, there are no reported tech-nical changes yet. The election will still be done on a manual procedure devoid of the budding rumors of it being auto-mated this year. All enrolled college stu-dents are eligible voters. However, post-graduate Ateneo students, including those from the School of Medicine and College of Law, are not eligible to vote.

Power mechanicsThis year’s election is special but not unusual. Special in a sense that there seems to be an unparallel di-chotomy between the banner-bearers of One Ateneo and the Independent Party, but not unusual since a one-man presidential race has already happened during Tyrone Stevenson Chua’s second shot with his vice-pres-identiable Isabelle Moreno last 2011..

According to Joseph Suarez, AELE-COM Commissioner for Propaganda, since each of the candidates solely vie for their positions, they must garner the votes of confidence of at least two-third of the entire voting population for them to legitimate-ly ascend to office. Therefore, if the number of votes for abstain causes a candidate to fall short from the required two-thirds vote, he shall be deemed to have lost his bid for the position.

This is what happened to the Chua-Moreno tandem a year ago. An ap-proximate margin of 0.03% from the required two-thirds rule led them to culminate the 2011 ECA elec-tion in hate, causing AELECOM to declare a failure of elections.

Fair dreamsUndoubtedly, the June re-election was a staggering success. With a remark-able 54% voter’s turnout, any AELE-COM officer surely had a goodnight-sleep. But with the ever fluctuating and inconsistent participation rates of students, the rest questions whether the same would be expected this time.

Suarez is very much confident about surpassing the previous mark, “gusto talaga naming malagpasan ang 55% [quota]”. He adds that in order to se-cure the said projection, AELECOM will be intensifying further its adver-tisement efforts. “Kung makikita mo, parang race track ang concept. In the same way that we are in a race for a hundred percent [voter’s] turnout.”

So far, AELECOM has been bombard-ing its pro-voting propaganda not only in the catwalk, but also in Facebook. Earlier, they also released their video presentation in YouTube that features students stating out the qualities that they want from the new president. Their marketing tools received posi-tive feedbacks from some students interviewed. “Their [concept] is cool. At least it’s more relevant to the funki-ness of Atenistas while maintaining the integrity [of the advocacy] that they want to convey,” a student who chose to have his name anonymous, said.

A few days left before the actual elec-tion begins, and with this is the fast-ap-proaching end of the Ateneans to assess their decisions. Look up to the candi-dates’ posters, analyze their strengths and assess their leadership capabili-ties, and in the end you will decide.

A Rotten Everything, A Facetious Joke

by Jam Camille Quintanes

A waste can fall into three categories: recyclable, biodegrad-able, and non-biodegradable. It’s funny how student leader-ship in our campus likewise may fall into any of the three cat-egories. Recently though, most administrations have proven that they belong to the biodegradable or “nabubulok” bin.

What is so rotten about student leadership in Ateneo? Is the government or the students to blame, or maybe altogether? Observing the number of candidates who filed their COCs this year, which includes one party and two independent candi-dates, it definitely says something about our campus politics.

Will this year’s elections be the definite drive for the student council to jump off the cliff of political will and public service?

Who moved?Leadership is not just about standing proud and tall above the student body. If one is elected to be part of El Consejo, that doesn’t mean leaders will separate themselves from the rest of the students and act god. However, some of these “lead-ers” seemed to have adopted this distorted view of student leadership. The moment they take their place in the Consejo throne, it’s as if they have a shift in their perspective and see students as loyal subjects in a kingdom so motionless it ap-pears haunted.

Leaders have created a gap between them and the students. This gap only builds nothing but a distant relationship be-tween two very vital forces. And as this gap is continuously expanded, it becomes destructive and deceiving that ulti-mately obscures the students and their leaders from each other.

When students have a preconceived notion that their leaders are up there and they’re down here, they feel as though their leaders are hard to reach. In effect, they wouldn’t be comfort-able raising concerns and saying what they really think. It is a leader’s job to make sure he is able to reach out to the people who have given him/her the opportunity in the first place. The students at least deserve that.

If our student leaders continue to exude this image of being elites, students will never see them as someone who could represent and be their voice. The student body itself will feel detached. It will impress that their student leaders don’t

really care for them because they don’t know them.

It is a wonder sometimes if it’s better to elect someone without all the credentials but knows what it is to be a regular student, its needs and concerns. A student leader can never be success-ful when he/she is not regarded a true part of the student body.

A serious joke taken The student council becomes a joke for most students. Even the elections seem to be a gag upon knowing that only one

party is running. Painful as it is, many students don’t take El Consejo seriously because there’s no sense behind it. You cannot blame a student body for losing its trust and en-thusiasm supporting an administration that has proven no improvements and no change. It’s sad that while some students try to fight and battle it out for their rights, many have accepted defeat. And many more while trying to fight were seriously wounded by false promises and stagnation.

The student body is walking on a limb here. The same cycle operates throughout the entire school year: candidates cam-paign, students vote, situation remains unchanged, students are left disappointed. If only true leaders would come for-ward and serve with unwavering passion, maybe the student body will engage for a change. This road is an endless path to nowhere until people, both leaders and students, learn to put aside selfish desires and be part of something remark-able.

There is no way we can all grow and develop as a student body until such realizations are made and responsibilities are taken seriously and with all integrity.

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The Last Campaignby Marie Cyndie Domingo

This is not for the involved nor is it for the candidates who will be running this time. This is for those who have completely lost confidence in student governance, and for those who have cho-sen to skip the campus election this February.

An individual’s perspective on campus election is an important factor in deciding whether to get involved or not. For the major-ity of Ateneans, however, it is pointed at the wrong angle. The image of a student government that fails to represent the stu-dent body is what they only see. Along with the inability of al-most all of the student governments to establish their presence in the university, it has left students feeling nothing for them. What they do not realize then, is that leaving the problem will not even help solving it.

If the student body wants to have a government which truly represents them, they must also be a part of empowering its officials—they must be the ones who will actively place these people in their seats. If the Ateneans persist on lingering on the inability and shortcomings of the Consejo, nothing will ever change. Ateneans must accept that there is no perfect govern-ment and there will be no government at all if there are no stu-dents to be represented and served.What angle then must the Ateneans see? It is the angle which equates voting with democracy and change. This change can act through the people we elect. The ones seated in the student government can prove themselves genuinely if we give them enough incentive to prove themselves to us. In return, the best incentive that we could grant them is our vote.

Fighting for democracy and change is an inherent responsibil-ity; we must see it as a form of philosophy. We are part of a whole and greater community, thus we have to do things that affect the light of a greater need. And right now, it is a need that needs to be involved in.

The Consejo will remain to be unfelt if the rest remains to be apathetic. If majority of us will not vote, then those who will become part of the Consejo will be those who represent only the minority who care. By our own acts, we create a social imbal-ance which we truly, truly do not want. By our own acts, we cre-ate a social imbalance which we truly, truly do not want.

This is not merely a dramatic presentation of the gravity that one vote can do but a declaration of the truth behind that power—a last campaign to stir within you the need to make a change by casting that one single vote. On the Election Day, find time to take that pen and elect for a worthy student-candidate. One vote is enough to make a change…

You must vote.

What Elections?

by Jam Camille Quintanes

Screw the elections, my loyal aficionados. Nothing good will come out of it. Take that from someone who had seen the coun-cil’s fall time and again, is thrilled to witness history repeat it-self.

Before you choose your candidate, think: Should you even con-sider voting in the first place? It’s not like things will change around here. It’s not like your voices will be heard even if candi-dates repeatedly assure that every time they campaign. It’s not like there will be any difference. Elections are just Broadway shows where candidates put on their best acts to manipulate the audience and mask reality with their Botox-enhanced smiles.

What’s the essence of voting if the student council will continue to prove its incapability and distant relationship with the stu-dents? Through so many years we have been electing student-leaders who kept promising for change, they normally end up not learning from the mistakes of past administrations. They are the kind of student-leaders who until now cannot distin-guish the difference between fitting in and standing out. These candidates parade different means and platforms but at the end of the day, there always seems to be a lack of impact to those who are concerned the most.

The candidates have rehearsed their script several hours a day to make sure their words capture your attention and ultimately your ballots. Allow them to once again fool you of their words that are nothing but a bunch of baloney whose integrity will falter once they are seated in the throne of the Consejo.

Besides, a student like you got better things to do instead of vot-ing without a cause. I’m sure you’ve become too used with this kind of sham campus politics where nobody really cares.

Forget voting and forget the elections, my dear because ‘to for-get’ is exactly what those who are running intend to do. They will forget their promises. They will forget their calling. They will forget you.

I am ecstatic to see Consejo ultimately lose the student body’s very little remaining trust on that day. I can’t wait to celebrate with those students who finally opened their eyes to the fact that whether they vote or not, it wouldn’t make any difference.

Adieu.

For some, the context of activism is surprisingly analogous to indif-ference. Some Ateneans firmly insist that boycotting the election may signify protest and rebellion against the ruling student gov-ernment, assuming that such radical movement will pressure the incoming elected officers in intensifying their efforts in pleasing the student populace.

However, when one carefully analyzes the goal and the manner by which some Ateneans choose to attain that goal, there in between lies the paradox. While the context of activism rests on the prem-ise of movement to transcend a message, nonparticipation in the elections sets a contrary mood since it is a form of indifference which setbacks that supposed movement. In the simplest model, one cannot claim to be a social activist if he does not shake off the blindness of a people through tangible actions. Moreover, the choice of not voting does not get that message across directly—it may bear implications and insinuations that can only be assumed but not really affirmed.

Aside from the clear principle-mechanism glitch that many At-eneans so proudly reason, we think that one’s oblivious approach towards the elections or any Consejo programs has already lost its power. When a 54% voter’s turnout was recorded last June, the of-ficers of Consejo did not really show concern about salvaging the trust of the rest of the 46% maybe because they felt hopeless on resolving an invincible and long-standing issue. Meanwhile, each year is a witness to AELECOM’s normal insistence, “Ang nakiki-alam, bumoboto” which actively implies that those who do not vote are downright apathetic and droopy individuals. In any side of the coin, no matter how intelligent or rational some of these non-vot-ers may be, they are absolutely prejudiced and insulted of being ir-rational and idiotic. This therefore shows how they lose more than they benefit from their own rebellious and so-claimed “liberating” acts.

Perhaps there is a need for a new strategy in order to get the mes-sage heard. We have done almost everything, and sadly boycotts have been an overrated resort which many see now as normal. Through so many years that AELECOM has been recording very low turnouts, we did not even see tangible changes of such movement. In almost each and every year, our student govern-ment mostly remains to be inoperative to the larger demands of students, some of its officers remain to be either immature or un-intelligent in making decisions, and the rest of the political system is merely an abode of extra-curricular for some resume-decorat-ing achievers even if its leaders are perfectly aware that student

governance is much more than that. While we applaud Chua’s term for a maka-masa and better term, that big and spacey office which he holds post still remains to be a home to some demented and puerile drama queens.

We think that this time we should vote but in a much resonantly aggressive force. While you may conveniently persist on remain-ing complacent on the non-voting approach, but voting for abstain if you truly are against the profiles of this year’s candidates would not hurt. It will get your sentiments launched in the open; it will make a compelling impression to the student government; and it will empower you and your voice of getting your vote across the failure or success of this year’s El Consejo Atenista. Never forget; it was the best tool that had plagued Chua to shame on his second presidential battle last 2011.Admittedly though, a lot would like to play antagonists. Some may opt not to vote even for an abstain mainly because they would like to displease AELECOM after it has garnered a remark-able result which they had worked hard for. However, if your true intention of not voting is because of the rotten political system, then AELECOM is not the enemy; El Consejo is.

Whoever or whatever you may label in your ballots, it is your prerogative after all. If the usual non-voting Ateneans really want to compel organic change in leadership and governance, we think that for this time they have to resort to another dimension—an-other strategy. But in all ends we ask you, please, vote wisely.

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EDITORIAL OPINION

A New Strategy

No matter what their platforms are, these year’s electoral candidates deliver the same subtle message as their promise once they get designated in position to serve their student constituents. In Michael Korda’s How to Be a Leader, he as-serts that a great leader comes in perfect timing, and with the Ateneo de Zamboanga University’s fast-approaching centen-nial year, the search for a remarkable leader is a number-one to-do.

This year, the heat of the competition may not be as strong as in previous years, as there is only one party vying for positions in the student council, with two in-dependent candidates contending for their spots.One AteneoNames of Candidates:

President: Adriel Earl Toribio

AAO Governor: Angelo EnriquezAAO Vice Governor: Milarose Barraca

CSITAO Governor: Agcel Estive

EAO Governor: Abdurauf BaldomeroEAO Vice Governor: Rissa Mae Montojo

MAO Governor: Alyssa Michelle AndradeMAO Vice Governor Al-Zhayeeb Hamin

NAO Governor: im SayamNAO Vice Governor: Ahmeo Bryle Indanan

SLAAO Governor: Ahmed-Adhiem KamlianSLAAO Vice Governor: Maricar Corina Canaya

Being the only party to lead this year’s El Consejo Atenista Election, the expectations are high as to what they will be

By: Keith Joshua Dumpit

implementing once they are seated in power. Because of of platforms which it promises to install, given that it wins 2/3 of the votes of the voting population.

The One Ateneo’s first point is the Consistent and Efficient Student Services, in which the lending system will be im-proved by adding variety, the printing service will be more consistent and closely monitored, the locker acquisition and maintenance method will be more advanced by converting them to metal ones and systematic by employing an acquisi-tion scheme and a complaint mechanism, and the consulta-tion and complaint system will be more interactive by setting up the El Consejo hotline.

Its second point is the Intensive Student Involvement and Student-Centered Projects, where university-wide tutorials will be offered, headed by the Tutorial Advocacy group, subsidies for needy scholars will be introduced and sport-related activities will be promoted to uphold the students’ physical well-being.

The third point of this party is the Strengthen Student Lead-ership Development Programs and Initiatives, wherein inter-nal and external leadership programs will be utilized for the formation and training of future Ateneo leaders.

Their last agendum for their constituents is the Widen and Deepen Social Awareness and Involvement of Students,

that students unravel the leader in them. Miguel claims that he is willing to train young minds in the hope of producing better Atenean leaders. Moreover, being one of the mem-bers of the executive committee of the previous admin-istration, he wants that he himself will initiate programs, especially those which cater to students who are able to voice out their concerns. But above all, Miguel desires to see the Ateneo rise to new heights, not only academic-wise, but also by forming new leaders who will succeed in pursu-ing his goal. Once this is achieved, Miguel believes that the Ateneo will be able to cement its name as the number one university in Zamboanga.

Independent NAO Vice Governor CandidateName of Candidate: Mirulam Tillah

Mirulam Tillah, an NAO vice-governor aspirant, says that his will is simple; that by maximizing his capacities to their full potentials, he wants to serve both the Ateneo com-munity and the society at large in order for them to derive benefits which they cannot otherwise obtain. As to what drove him to run, he claimed that his versatility in working in different fields, his unique leadership styles, his record of being a graduate of two previous courses and his flexible character are what he believes as necessary for a leader to be called a “great” leader.

As of now, not much can be said. Results are unpredictable. But come February 9, 2012, change is about to begin, and a new era of student leadership at its finest will be born. To say it simply, the candidates suggest that the Ateneo’s rising again can be brought forth by the production of new leaders. With the At-eneo’s centennial anni-versary at arms length, the whole community is about to experience its biggest transformation yet.

where awareness mech-anisms will be employed to improve students’ en-gagement in the student government’s programs concerning social is-sues in and out of the campus and a political caravan will be organ-ized for the 2013 local and senatorial elections, prompting students to participate in gauging the worthiness of politi-cal candidates.

With its motto, “One Vision. One Commu-nity,” the One Ateneo stresses the need for Ateneans to develop a sense of identity, that they be uniform in what they are and what they want to become as At-eneans and that they share the same general

desire for their school and student body.

Evergisto Jose Miguel

Mirulam Tillah

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Independent Vice PresidentiableName of Candidate: Evergisto Jose Miguel

Evergisto Jose Miguel is running for the position of vice pres-ident, aiming to make students more active and participative in school and social endeavors, not just because they are re-quired to, but instead, driven by the will to instigate change. Miguel, who is disabled, wants to serve as an inspiration to students who are more capable than him, that he may mo-tivate them to utilize what they have so they could achieve more, that their passions be fulfilled to help them counter individual challenges.

As for his plans once elected, he wants to see school organi-zations live up to their potentials again. It seems to him that organizations are just there by names, but are not really able to fulfill their goals and objectives. Furthermore, he yearns

Top five

by John Xyrous O. Dela Cruz

This year’s presidentiable and vice-presidentia-ble have taken the toll to expose themselves vul-nerably to public scrutiny. And with this, they have readily laid down their answers on the five most basic questions any reasonable voter would ask.

Roll your eyes over their answers, think and assess their statements, and affirm their claims through whatever experiences that you have had that could testify the truth behind everything that they say.

gOODBYE,

MR. PRESIDENTby Marie Cyndie Domingo

The upcoming election opens up new chap-ters and new hopes for the entire Ateneo college studentry. Aspirants present to us the things we can only hope that they can deliver. It is another time of the year where we have to reflect on the votes we cast, as-sess what will it bring, and decide for the better of the student body. But with the opening of this new door, we close another one. We finally bid farewell to El Consejo Atenista’s captain, Tyrone Stevenson Chua.

Here he talks about his experiences and re-grets, and all the perks encountered in his short-lived tenure as president.

Beacon: Having to run for the presidency thrice, how was it like to finally win the po-sition?

Tyrone Chua: I felt very blessed by the Lord when I finally won the election. I have been looking forward to the day [that] I will be serving the student body as its president.

B: Where did you get the motivation to keep on aiming for the presidential spot?

T: I…[did not] want to regret someday [of] let[ting] go of the opportunity to serve the student body.

B: Being the president for only a short time, can you say that you have delivered your goals which you have renderred during your campaign?

T: I believe that I’ve made my part in deliver-ing my proposals when I ran for presidency. I promised to listen to the students…and so I did. Given a very short time to lead, it is really very hard to keep up, considering the fact that I became the president…[in] the middle of the school year.

B: What challenges did you encounter dur-ing the very short period of presidency?

T: The main challenges are dealing with dif-ferent students with different ideology[sic], balancing Consejo and academics, and [meeting] expectations of students. You need to understand, [however], that not everybody understands your situation.

B: Being an athlete it was already a given that your governance can be more sports-oriented. How did you break from that ste-reotype?

T: As an athlete I made it a point to give way to projects that will be involving sporty students like me with Consejo because I do not have much faith in apathy. I believe that students just need the right activity. For ex-ample, you won’t expect all sporty students present in a debate [activity]. Likewise you won’t expect all debaters to be attending [in a] sports event. Not just because they are not present, they are already apathetic. But then I also made it a point to make sure that Consejo will also be [organizing] other pro-

ects [inclined in other fields aside from] sports.

B: What has the El Consejo under your leadership done differently this time?

T: To be honest, I am a bit strict in leading Consejo. With the short time, I [did not] have the luxury to delay activities. I also made sure that we ask students with such concerns. And last, I never made a decision without consulting [to] other student lead-ers and ordinary students as well. I don’t want to commit the same mistakes of other people. I listened to students first, and then [I] served as [a] bridge to the administra-tion. [I did] not [follow] the

suggestion by[sic] someone that I should listen to the admin[sic] first before [listen-ing to] the students.

B: If given the chance, is there anything you would like to change in the way you led Consejo?

T: The only thing I want to change is the time frame. If only I got a full term, and if only the student body realize[d] sooner.

B: What have you learned from the short experience as a president and from those around you?

T: Too many lessons and experiences. The following are my favorite [quotes]: “Kung kaya mong gawin ngayon, gawin mo na”, “When things go wrong, pray. When stressed out, pray. When everything is do-ing great, pray.”, “You cannot please every-body”, and last, “As long as there is someone believing [in] your capacity to lead, lead.”

B: What can you advise to the people who are currently aspiring for seats in Consejo?

T: Be servant-leaders. Do not run just for the sake of decorating your resumes. Be God-fearing.

B: What is your final message for the At-eneans?

T: Do not be afraid to dream, if you really want it then fight for it. You only have one life, make the most out of it. Smile. ;)

With all that have happened in the past school year, he remained to be there for the student body as the president.

Whether his term is an improvement or a repetition of the student government be-fore him, this will be left to the decision of the student body he governed. What has been done, cannot be undone. That is why, like the current president, we remain to be hopeful for the future of our student gov-ernment.

“BE SERVANT-LEADERS. DO NOT RUN FOR THE SAKE OF DECORATING YOUR RESUME.”

Questions Adriel Earl ToribioPresidentiable

One Ateneo

Evergisto Jose MiguelVice-Presidentiable

Independent

What inspired and pushed you to run for the position you are aspiring for?

Leading the student body and seeing the stu-dent body being well represented in institutional affairs is my inspiration as a student leader. More than that, I want to continue the improve-ments, if any, by the student government.

The thing that pushed me to run for the vice president position is, first, ADZU still lacks students who are 100 percent willing to run for office, second is because I feel that I can do more for the students when I am elected.

If given the chance to assess and evalu-ate yourself and your leadership skills, what will it be? Why? (1 ) being the lowest and 10 being the highest)

8.5 is my honest rating to myself. There is no perfect leader and thus the best leader is the leader who is open to learn and is able to cope with the situation around and the need at hand.

I would give myself a 6 or 7 rating because I’m not really the type of leader who is autocratic. Rather I am more of a diplomatic type of leader and in every project, I try to plan ahead and set the bigger assignment to myself.

If ever you failed to win this school year’s election, will you still continue to pursue your goals? How?

Yes. Taking the position is not the only way to be able to serve the student body. If ever worst comes to worst, I will be part of the student government still even as a cabinet secretary or an ordinary student proposing project to the president for him to consider. Thus, at the extreme, I can initiate programs partnered with my affiliations to still propel my vision to the student body.

If I do fail in this election, I can still serve the student government and the students in other ways. As to how, well most students do not know it, but I am usually behind the efforts of the Consejo to address the issues coming from the students, in a way I am do-ing social actions for the Consejo, so I think I will continue what I have been doing since last year.

As a student leader of the Ateneo, what have you done for the school? What have you contributed so far?

I have convened two (2) General Assemblies for Council of Leaders’ Assembly, and I have gath-ered each organization’s respective issues. I also addressed the offices and people regarding the said concerns and issues. I have implemented a system through an Organizational Portfolio to evaluate and monitor the performance of the organizations in the Ateneo. With regards to the COLA, I have allocated budget for the Student Leadership Development Projects wherein the main stakeholders are the COLA members. I have also dispensed subsidies for organizations that were financially in need and deserving to be subsidized.

If you may recall, the Beacon wrote an article on a clean-up done by the PPO in the BC Building last April or May, where they re-painted and repaired the upper floors. What most people do not know, is that it was our group that filed a report to the president of the university stating the problems encoun-tered by many students with regard to the facilities. I was the one who led the group, and it is also because of our efforts why most classrooms right now have 5 electric fans instead of the usual 3.

How do you take or address criticisms thrown at you regard-ing your plans, plat-forms and methods of leading?

All the criticisms I receive is taken and ad-dressed constructively. I do not normally retaliate to the comments thrown for this will not solve anything and more importantly it is their right to voice out. Being defensive in such instances is being a coward to reality and more importantly to change.

I cannot please everyone, no matter what I will do, someone will always criticize what I do or say. If I do encounter such criticisms, I will take them objectively. If I think that the criticism has merit then I would try to improve on what has been criticized.

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By: Sarah Gail Galvan

The infectionIf there is one thing that the present El Consejo Atenista (ECA) admin-istration can be commended for, it is how they succeeded in making their presence known to the student body – an amazing feat given the mess left by the previous management under Johan’s leadership. Thus we can tru-ly say that Tyrone Chua’s relentless drive and passion to lead, evident in how he ran for presidency again and again despite his first two losses, was worth the gamble.

However, the visibility of an office that was thought to be inexistent in the beginning is still but a small tep forward for a student gover-nment that is battling against a populace that is known for its apathetic nature. Apathy cannot be merely defeated with visib-ility alone. The ECA has still to gain total participation from the masses because no matter how much the students feel that the office exists, it is useless if they would not even bother to engage themselves in the various activities and projects. This here then is the biggest and most constant problem and criticism made against the student govern-ment since its conception, and even until now as we reach the end of Chua’s administration, it still re-mains to be unresolved.

There are a lot of factors that can be attributed as to why this infection still continues to fester, reasons that vary base on how the student gov-ernment was handled and managed at that time. In Chua’s case since the current ECA has already dealt with the matter of being “invisible,” the reason lies within the issue of rep-resentation.

Representation is what encom-passes a student government. Along with service, student governance is grounded on the acts of represent-ing the whole student body, and not

merely a certain number of people, and responding to their needs in a way that the majority should benefit from. Other than that, all others are merely left as electives and to the discretion of the people in power.

Given that context, the question that has been raised is: “Do the ECA projects represent the needs of the whole student body?”

The symptomsTo ask the average student on what ECA projects they can remember, the answer most often than not were the La Liga Aguila sports activities (i.e. Frisbee, Futsal, and Softball). Such answers were not that sur-

prising given the excessive market-ing done to these specific projects in contrast to the socio-civic ones. Also, one can safely assume that this focus towards sports and a specific sub-population in the student de-mography – the athletes, is because the president is an athlete himself and is quite infamous for his battle cry of “Para sa mga atleta!”

At first glance, these projects do not seem to be wrong in the sense that they do cater to some of the students’

need to engage in a healthy compe-tition of sports. And yet, there lies the key word – SOME, which makes the over-exposure and focus on pro-jects leaning towards a more athletic bent not seem right considering that only a small percentage of Ateneans make up the athletic clique of the university. It becomes doubtful then if ECA is really representing the overall Ateneo student body in this kind of situation.

Chua’s vice-president, Earl Toribio, explained that the over-exposure was because sports activities pro-mote the best and are the most

visible or not should not entail that projects that could cater to everyone’s interest should be compromised in lieu of favoring a particular group’s activities because of the limelight that they can bring. The student government should always remember that they were put into power to represent not only one or a dozen but everyone

within the Ateneo. How can they expect complete participation from the students when only a selected few are the ones who become inter-ested with the activities that they of-fer?

True, that the excessive exposure towards sports should not mean that we disregard the academic and socio-civic projects that ECA did. The LIYAB Leadership Workshop, consultations, university-wide tuto-rials, Tabang Sendong Appeal, and the printing and lending services were also there. But if observed closely, majority of the said projects were not actually initiated by ECA

it s e l f but were more tapped efforts with other or-

ganizations within the school. The name and financial sup-

port from the student gov-ernment were visible.

However, the man pow-er and d e d i c a -tion that t r u l y made the projects success-

ful were from the

other or-ganizations

such as SACSI, ABECS, EMC².

As the duty of representation was not realized, service too in the ECA is facing some problems. Service in the context of people inside the office are stretched to their limit because of the lack of volunteers. Unlike in past ad-ministrations, today’s ECA observes that there is a decreasing number of people wanting to get in and of-fer their time and efforts. Although, this is not because of personal clashes but rather more of how people find no consolation in working in the of-fice added to the fact that the atmos-phere inside is not that engaging and would rather focus on their academ-

ics instead. As Toribio shares, “The aura [inside the office] is not invit-ing which causes constraints to the number of people inside.”

The remedyIn conclusion, Chua’s administra-tion is not the best, but it certainly is better. We commend once again the success of the current ECA for mak-ing that initial step towards fighting apathy. It is a great victory compared towards the prior administrations before it. However, it still falls short on the goal of having a student gov-ernment that the students can feel and at the same time are involved in. It still lacks a more balanced ap-proach of representing everyone in the university so as to involve eve-ryone in a common interest. Be-cause that is the only way to stop the apathetic nature of Ateneans, to strike their non-caring outlooks with something that they would care about. In this we hope that the next batch of officers will gain one step forward once again and not two back. This is for the ultimate need of all Ateneans, a student government that will be the true representation of everyone – athlete and non-ath-lete alike.

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