This (online) battle is complicated

Obviously the weekend wouldn’t give the candidates a break. Campaigning continued on Saturday, with the candidates talking to the frosh who are attending their NSTP classes. My sister, who has been a similarly keen election observer, has finally received a copy of the Tapat GPOA after waiting for the past week. Some minds were still being convinced, especially in light of the previous day’s miting de avance and open forum. Inevitably the results were given the spin treatment.

But another part of the campaign has been waged online – through mailing lists and blog entries, from candidates, former candidates and party supporters. As the students awaited a summary of what has been said during the miting de avance, emails started going around, trying to convince students about their cause, one more time.

And what makes this interesting is that these are, in my opinion at least, written outside what the campaign warrants. These listings play on the advantage that these are more personal and more heartfelt – something they hope the students would see, beyond the usual complaints that the prescribed campaign techniques are robotic.

Putting a face on partisanship

Santugon has been pushing for a genuine Student Council by eliminating partisanship in the system, which they believe has been preventing officers from acting as one entity during projects, activities and advocacies. The problem is, however, the students don’t seem to get the message – it’s clear, sure, but something seems missing. Some have thought Santugon has been “bashing” the Tapat-dominated Student Council, while some, me included, are unclear as to what actions they will take to make this vision a reality.

Even more importantly, some don’t get an idea as to what this partisanship really is. This could most importantly go to the freshmen, who are new to the elections, have the eagerness to vote, and are, to be blunt about it, naïve about how the system has worked out.

Mia Jimenez, one of Santugon’s candidates for batch representative of FAST 2007, was the first to speak out. In a blog entry written on the wee hours of Saturday morning – and later reposted by fellow Santugon candidates and supporters across mailing lists and blogs – she attempts to put a face on the partisanship that, she believes, she has suffered from as a Legislative Assembly representative of her batch. This, and subsequent letters, has been edited to conform with style requirements.

To my beloved fellow Lasallians,

I know you’re all sick and tired of hearing us day in and day out, reciting these scripted campaign monologues. So I write to you now as a person and not as a robot. I write to you as a plea to your emotions, as a plea to your logic and as a plea to your consciences. Something is terribly wrong in De La Salle University, and there is something you can do about it. Let me tell you a story.

I am an incumbent Legislative Assembly representative of FAST 2007. Before freshman year even began, I knew I wanted to run for the student council because I witnessed in high school how passionate SC officers could be and how much a single person can accomplish in one year. More than that, I missed the way my student council felt like a real second family. When I began my term as part of the DLSU Student Council, I was, for the most part, underwhelmed. There was no trace of unity, no trace of working towards a common goal. At times, I even felt there was no goal. More than that, I witnessed – and experienced – blow after blow to the dignity of my fellow SC officers and to myself.

I witnessed our batch president, Jill Bantang, as well as other batch presidents of CLA bypassed in making decisions and forming teams to head projects. I witnessed our own college assembly president calling meeting after meeting but only informing members of her own party what was really going on. I witnessed one friend’s projects being turned down because there were “no funds”, only to be resurrected again in the campaigns of another candidate because miraculously, there is enough money this year. I witnessed nothing – not a single project – that I could be proud to say was truly CLA’s because, although each batch had a number of activities, there was nothing that concretely brought the entire college “to the forefront of nation building.” I experienced having my own friends ask me what the SC has really done, because they haven’t seen or felt anything, and for once being speechless.

On my part, I experienced the pain of having written my own resolution but not being able to lobby it in the LA because the Resolutions Monitoring and Management Committee chairperson, my supposed co-author, never got around to printing it. I waited patiently from our last session last [second] term to my last LA session before I filed for LOA this general elections. When I return to the LA after next week, it will still not have been printed and will still not have been lobbied.

This general elections, I have had the privilege of being able to run with the [twelve] most passionate and most capable individuals the College of Liberal Arts could ever hope to have. Foremost among us is our college assembly president, Ms. Marisol Prieto. She may not be the best public speaker, I grant you that. But today, during [the] miting de avance, I finally witnessed her release to the public the passion that I’ve seen in her this entire time.

People are shocked to hear the spiel of our executive board because they feel that they are just bashing the current Student Council. Pero paninira ba ang ginagawa nila? What we are doing is, for the first time in three years, bringing out the truth. Ang sabi nila, ilabas ang katotohanan. And there you have it. Oo, masakit nga ang sinasabi namin. But in the words of our Student Council president, Ms. Agnes de Castro, “minsan, masakit ang katotohanan.” We use this – we use the truth – not to prop up our candidates. Our candidates are strong, capable and experienced; there is no arguing with that. We are doing this because the students deserve accountability in the Student Council. The students deserve the truth.

Santugon has always been known as the “less aggressive” party. In three years and more, the party has experienced every sort of indignity that could be inflicted on a socio-political party. One year, a campaign tarpaulin of an executive board that was denied the opportunity to serve was torn down and used as a welcoming mat at their victory party. Last freshman elections, I witnessed my own running mates, my own brothers and sisters, suffer as stories about them were spread in order to strike them down. This general elections, I have witnessed more covert attacks on the reputation of my fellow candidates. Covert attacks that can cripple a candidate more than our blatant criticism on the current regime ever could. Can you blame us for finally – painful and difficult as it is – stepping up?

They’re right. The Student Council does need a total internal revamp – a revolution of sorts. But not the kind they’re harping about this time around. The DLSU Student Council needs and deserves an overhaul of the type of leadership it has been under.

They’re right when they say napilitan lang akong tumakbo ngayong taon. I have lost almost all confidence in the Student Council; I was not supposed to run. But I was forced to, not by my party, but by my own conscience. A small part of every student’s tuition fee goes to my education. I feel that it’s my obligation to give back. That is why I – and many others – choose to brave the humiliation, the pain and the sacrifice involved in general elections.

Wake up, De La Salle University! Stand up, De La Salle University! This coming March 11, 12 and 13, vote not only for us – vote for yourselves.

We do not want your pity vote. We want your vote. Your vote in the ballot box and your vote of confidence that we will give you what you truly deserve. Mga kapwa Lasalyano, ang nararapat sa SC ay hindi lang sila, at hindi lang rin kami. Ang nararapat sa SC ay tayong lahat.

Dapat lahat.

Lahat dapat.

Yours in truth and service,
Mia Jimenez
Legislative Assembly Representative
FAST 2007

As I see it, this is an unexpected move from a batch candidate – from a candidate in general – but it was greeted with applause from fellow Santugon candidates and supporters. A freshman like her doing something like this?

Starting a direct battle

Just today, another blog entry has been making the rounds of Santugon supporters, this time from the party’s executive president Koko Ortuoste. This one also attempts to put a face on the partisanship Santugon has been targeting for a while, but unlike the previous letter, this is more of a direct attack against Tapat, especially its definition of partisanship in the miting de avance.

Partisanship can be defined as the adherence to a particular set of principles, values, or ideals. In a university setting, Student Council officers practice this by pushing for policies, programs, and resolutions for students that adhere to these set of beliefs. Partisanship defined in this manner is not detrimental. It actually helps in developing a broader perspective of any situation enabling decision makers to come up with better conclusions, such as when deciding on policies where individual freedom and the common good are in conflict.

This is the mature definition of partisanship, but there are always two sides to everything. Partisanship that is detrimental is one that focuses on the sole promotion of political party outside the bounds of the roles and responsibilities of a Student Council officer.

Case 1: When I was a Batch President two years ago, I experienced the college assembly president, along with other CCS Student Council elected officers, “stealing” an activity from the batches. The story goes like this; I had a tie-up weekly activity with a CSO organization where the batch president (from Tapat) asked me if her batch assembly and the college assembly could join in on the tie-up activity. I told her that I had to ask the president of the CSO organization so that we could work on the division of responsibilities. Without waiting for a response, they reserved the venue we were supposed to use for the activity then told us that they would be doing the activity themselves! Come the day of the activity, they were absolutely unprepared that they used our logistics (without permission) for “their” activity. To top it all off, during the activity itself, they all had the audacity to wear orange shirts and sit in the front row during the activity that was not theirs to begin with and that they were totally unprepared for.

(College assembly president “stealing” an activity from the batches? Sad. Just sad.)

Case 2: At the start of the school year (2007-2008), the incumbent SC president makes a statement, “We want to be seen as one Student Council with one agenda.” After the frosh elections, it was the first LA session of the newly elected freshmen LA representatives, so I decided that I would make it a point to attend the LA session to support our newly elected LAs. To my surprise most of the Tapat LA representatives were wearing orange (I think only two weren’t), but I distinctly remember Hugh Morris and Anci wearing a Tapat shirt during the LA session. The frosh Santugon LAs were so disgusted by what happened that they aired their concerns to me. The concern was even aired to the SC president by some of the elected, but the action of these people was defended.

General Elections 2008. CCS Tapat does a Q&A RTR in our PROBSTA class. One of my classmates asks what their definition of partisanship is. The candidate for CCS CAP answers something similar to the first definition I gave above. Since he is an incumbent LA representative, I lay out case 2 to him and ask, “How does that action of yours fit with the definition you just gave me?” He answers something like, maybe it was just a coincidence. The class just laughs at the answer. It being a probability and statistics class, I turn to the professor and ask, “Miss, what’s the probability of that happening?” She just laughed!

To Tapat, stop using the mature definition of partisanship as an excuse for your actions. The actions I described in these cases (which are actually just some) do not fall under the definition of mature partisanship. I know you know the definition, but do you actually understand it? Yes, it is just a shirt or a color, but your reasons for doing certain things say a lot about your values and principles. Actions speak louder than words. What other possible reason could you have for doing such actions, aside from intimidation and the display of power? This is something that is very much the same with what’s happening in Philippine politics, something that we should not aspire for. It is also unnecessary, if you truly want a unified Student Council. The promotion of the political party is not the job of a Student Council officer; it is the job of the political party officers. Know the difference between the two. If you want to promote your political party, stay in your political party. Don’t run for a Student Council position. Stop being what we call a “traditional politician.”

To Lasallians who might be reading this, you deserve leaders, not politicians.

Think about it.

Supporting the candidates

Yet another Santugon entry comes from Kat Sanchez, who was once a candidate in the 2006 General Elections for treasurer, but lost to Christopher Ngo. This letter – reposted, in this instance, by FAST 2005 batch representative candidate Mae Ong – doesn’t discuss the issue of Student Council partisanship that has strongly defined this campaign, but instead talks about the courage the yellow’s executive board slate had in deciding to run for this year’s elections.

It must be recalled that Santugon considered not fielding any candidate for the executive board, after having a hard time looking for suitable and willing students. This point was even mentioned in the miting de avance, by Nicole Villarojo, no less. This letter, I think, is a heartfelt plea for students to vote for their executive board, already battling accusations of bashing the current mandate in their campaigns.

First of all, let me clarify something. This is not a promotional material. Whatever I’ll write and what I’ve posted in my blog are things that I believe in, I’ve witnessed and what I know to be true. As far as I remember, I’ve never blogged about my experience running for the SC. I may be from Santugon, but this time, I’m writing my personal opinion, not as a member of a socio-political party, but as a person who’s been there in the battlefield of the General Elections and as a Lasallian who believes that DLSU deserves true leadership.

To be honest, I’m not excited that it’s that time of the year again when we get to vote for our SC officers. I am more heartbroken than interested. I ran for the SC twice, winning as LA [representative] on the first, losing as SC treasurer in the second (and to make things more frustrating, to a mere 79 votes). Losing has always been painful for me, and I badly grieved not just my loss, but more so the loss of my fellow EB candidates whom I love and respect with all my heart. There were many sleepless, tear-filled nights. It was weakening, discouraging, frustrating. It’s so painful to see great leaders, whom you know for sure will offer genuine service, lose in the face of battle. It’s painful to accept that you were not given the chance to serve, despite your sincere passion for it.

GE 2006 was one of the most fulfilling moments of my life. I was with five exceptional leaders in the executive board who, in my opinion, deserve to be in office more than anyone. It was the year that my Santugon breeding solidly built the foundations of my passion for youth empowerment. It was when God affirmed that He has shaped my heart for service.

God knows how painful it was for me last year to forgo running for the SC. This year, He also knows how much I wish to run as part of the EB. I feel like there’s a fire burning inside of me, wanting to go out and ignite into massive flames. God is witness to how much I ache to serve the studentry again. Heck, I’ll run for SC president if given the chance. But I can’t. Right now, I admit I suffer from getting parched from my fire within, from not being able to pursue my desire to serve through the SC, from an increasing number of lingering what-ifs. Only God knows why things happened the way they happened, why things are the way they are, and why they have been (and continue to be) so significant that I am forced to withdraw my plans of running again as a Santugon EB candidate.

This year, I’m scared that history will repeat itself… that great Santugon leaders will lose their chance of creating positive change in the SC and, consequently, the student population. Running for EB is not a joke; it will require you to give so much of yourself that sometimes you can call it unfair and overboard. That’s why I commend Agnes, Aimee, Sars, Cristine, Jessa and Nadia for rising up to the challenge. These great women chose to commit, despite the overwhelming number of reasons why they shouldn’t. I was there when they decided to run. I saw their moments of confusion, of fear, and finally, of bravery. If you haven’t seen how courage looks like, then I suggest you meet the current Santugon EB. They are beautiful, no question about it. But after being with them, you’ll be mesmerized by their strength of character. I’m not just saying this. They are really inspiring. I especially want to highlight Nadia. I’ve been exactly where she is now. And I’ve gone through the same pain of losing in the elections as SC treasurer as she had experienced last year. But [Naj] continues to fight. She’s still willing to sacrifice her personal time for her ardent desire to serve, staring fear in the eyes. If that’s not persistence and passion, I don’t know what is. That’s the kind of leader you want to represent you in the SC.

Seeing the SPOA the other day, I was moved to tears. I was part of the Santugon EXECOM who created the Santugon vision of an “Empowered Youth, Progressive Citizenry” and the six (now five) commitments of Santugon leaders. It was touching to see our work etched in Santugon history, that people still believe in it. I hope it finally gets delivered to the place where it belongs, home to the SC.

I don’t mean to bash others, but I’m proud that I chose Santugon. I’m happy to be part of the fight for my party and for the studentry. I was part of the other party when I was in my freshman year, but joining Santugon has made me believe that change can happen, that DLSU deserves better, that things can be done, and that true leaders still exist.

As the GE draws near, I hope that this time, the right choices are made and that DLSU gets leaders who will transform the Student Council to a Students’ Council. As I’m expected to graduate this term (although, to be honest, I don’t want to leave yet), I hope that when I visit the campus, I can go to the SC office and finally feel welcome.

To the Santugon candidates this GE, especially the EB: it will hurt me if you don’t win, it will hurt if people will think that you guys can be taken for granted. Going to your trainings and seeing you give your all have inspired me so much. As Mico [Geronimo] has put it, you have given me a reason to look forward to the next day after embracing defeat. For the past two years, I have admittedly lost confidence in the SC’s capability to create positive change. But seeing you continue to fight through the battlefield of the GE, I am reminded of the very reason why I ran for SC in the first place: that while there are true leaders in our midst, hope exists. And you are that ray of hope. Make the change happen. Deliver.

Derecho Santugon!

Going beyond,
Kat Sanchez

Arguing for a platform-based decision

A fourth letter has also made the rounds of supporter blogs and mailing lists since yesterday morning, although this seems to be from Tapat, or for Tapat. This was written anonymously – or, to be exact, I couldn’t find the actual blog entry where this came from – but Tapat supporters have been reposting this as well, agreeing with its points. This was taken from a repost by Tapat supporter Carmel Puertollano.

Three years ago (cause I have been in DLSU that long) I was exposed to what I deem is one of the harshest in DLSU, the general elections. Every year, day in and day out, for almost two weeks you will hear so many things about so many people whose names you will soon memorize. From both political parties you will hear complaints of siraan and what they call “bashing”, only to find out later on that most of these are done by the political parties themselves in order to riddle their candidates to gather votes for themselves. What’s worse, these made up stories get worse and get around more as the candidates get desperate, and small insignificant things become big problems. This is politics in DLSU, I dare-say I’m getting used to it.

So when one freshmen, who has experienced for the first time what GE is all about, spoke up and shared her story, I wasn’t surprised. Welcome to the real world, last year sinabi rin yan ng kabilang partido kasi majority yung isa sa college, na hindi sila iniinform ng meetings. If there is one thing I learned from every general election I’ve gone through, it’s that everything in the past is all hearsay. Students are smarter than that, they are looking for your platform, not anything else.

Despite all these dirty politics around elections, one thing is clear; the DLSU Student Council is one of the best in the country, outsiders would say even better than Ateneo (who, I hear only from fellow batchmates in that school, have to drag people from condos in order to vote). Benchmarked by other universities, and yet our elections are one of the dirtiest (is this the price we pay?). Where in the country will you find Student Council elections where there are claims of SC officers stealing, cheating, and, till most recently, holding secret meetings? Where in this country will you find a Student Council elections miting de avance who have elected officers complain, right after another will say that you don’t need a position to be able to create change, instead of giving their platform (let’s ask COMELEC what miting de avance is really for)? No wonder an anonymous writer felt the need to exclaim that we have “trapo politics”.

So with all these stories and pleas going around, I have but one point to make. If we can make it in La Salle, where there is a controlled environment with educated voters, we can make a difference in this country. Which is why I ask you to vote based on platform. It’s the one thing these political parties cannot force us to do, since we’ve been forced to listen to them and their bashing for a week now.

It’s about time we show them that they can manipulate us no longer. We will not listen to anything else they have to say except their platform, and we’ll choose from there. No more pleading, no more stories, no more complaints. Just platforms.

As one great student leader once said, “Elections should be full of hope for the future, and not full of hate for the past.”

Let’s vote based on platform this general elections.

What will the students make out of it?

Aside from being surprise (but welcome) campaign material that aims for a voter’s emotional self, rather than the rational self, it still raises a lot of questions. Obviously on the hot end of the rod is Santugon, whose surprise aggressiveness has been attacked, questioned, and wondered upon by opponents and voters alike. Would their invigorated campaign find its way to a victory this coming Friday night? Or would these efforts be seen as an “ultimate bash” towards a Tapat-dominated Student Council?

This probably wouldn’t have happened if the current Student Council wasn’t split between both parties. Before, most of the batch positions went to Santugon, but in last year’s elections, it was an even split of positions. They got most of the batch representative seats, but only thirteen out of thirty-two of the seats in the Legislative Assembly. The yellows are forcing students to open their eyes to the reality that this split has done, but could they really convince them? And what would Tapat say, especially that one entry has implicated some names, including their bet for CLA college assembly president, Hugh Morris?

Would this result in a more analytical – pardon for the term – discernment of what both parties have to offer? Tapat’s USG proposal, their answer to a Student Council that the students can’t feel, is ambitious and would need a lot of explanation before students can be sold by the idea. Is this merely a system of checks and balances, or more complicated than the separation of powers the proposal calls for? What do they really mean by a “genuine” student government – more independent, or more student-involved?

Santugon, on the other hand, has to explain what they intend to do to eradicate partisanship in the Student Council. It’s mentioned merely as a bullet point in their SPOA – to “ensure the focus and direction of each executive office, college, and batch unit towards One Student Council which will promote non-partisanship and office sustainability” – but what exactly? FAST 2005 batch representative candidate Redg de Vera told me about a resolution some members of the Legislative Assembly this year filed, calling for an end to partisanship in the Student Council, but this has been struck down by all Tapat representatives, he says. Would this be their goal, or would it go beyond that?

More importantly, if the yellows do win, will they stick with this? This may sound cynical, but if there’s a major change of mandate in the Student Council, it would definitely attract different people, and the old officers who worked for Tapat candidate-headed offices might be affected. Will it be the same old cycle, or will real change happen?

Most importantly, for me at least, is this: will this affect anything? There’s one day to go before elections begin on 11-13 March – one more day to argue your point before you finally shut up. Is this the boost the campaign needs, or is this just, as one of the letters put it, traditional politics?

Shale Campaigns 2008 has a thread at PinoyExchange. Click here to post your opinions and speculations on the coming elections. Also, click here to view all multimedia content related to this year’s campaigns at Fifth Year Holler.