In an effort to win votes in the coming DLSU General Elections (GE), candidates from political parties, Santugon sa Tawag ng Panahon (Santugon) and Alyansang Tapat sa Lasalista (Tapat) have crafted and delivered their respective platforms and plans of action for the next academic year.
In an interview with The LaSallian, candidates from both political parties explain their preparations, procedures and processes.
How does your party make its Specific Plans of Action (SPOA)?
Santugon: We [conduct] intensive research on student and University concerns. We then find creative solutions and programs to address those issues, but of course, we consult the proper offices and the proper people to develop have a SPOA that is very feasible for the students.
Tapat: We don’t have a time limit in building our platform because we want to make sure that we discuss all the issues, and we have all the perspectives taken into consideration. We establish short-term, mid-term and long-term goals. For Tapat, our key years would be 2016-2017 when the K+12 would be implemented and 2023-2024 during the full integration of STC. We try to be as ideal as possible, because we believe that when you make plans, you make a vision. You shouldn’t be constrained with what you think you can do because you can do so much more.
What qualifies as “credentials?”
Santugon: The credentials of the candidates are achievements and positions held from the different organizations they came from. We also include the different programs that they spearheaded as USG officers.
Tapat: To include credentials in POAs is to establish credibility, but we encourage students to read the entire POA. The credentials are there to allow students to understand the things the candidate has experienced and to understand the brand of leadership that has been formed throughout that person’s experience. The credentials are not so much of ‘achieved this and done that,’ but it is what that person has to offer in terms of his experiences that allowed him to get into that position.
How effective has the SPOA been in the last academic year?
Santugon: The SPOA includes programs that are [goals] to be accomplished throughout the entire year, but these goals are not limited to such programs. Throughout the year, many issues come up, and we have to provide plans of actions for those concerns. The specific plans of action are just the initial programs we push for once we are elected officers in the USG.
Tapat (Jana Cabuhat): When you’re the president, you’re not supposed to do projects, but you have to represent the students. I, more or less, refer to the GPOA in making decisions for students. You always have to keep in mind that you fight for the students when you are faced with a decision to give them an effective project. At the end of the day, you give what they need.
Do you think that the SPOA could be compromised in a mixed executive board?
Santugon: We push for Derecho because it is through Derecho that we would easily implement our SPOA.
Tapat: We go by the principle that we can still work with each other in directly implementing our own platforms. But as much as possible, we’d like to deliver a straight vote to ensure that the student is not voting for a specific project or platform, but for the idea behind it. We present ourselves as a slate and not as individual people. Next year, the ideal state for both parties is to implement its platforms with full provisions. Plans can be executed when you’re all on equal footing and when you all have the same approach, but we compromise through long conversations in the office, numerous meetings, and technical procedures.
