USG GE candidates share platforms in Miting de Avance

This year’s Miting de Avance for the University Student Government (USG) General Elections (GE) last March 13 was different from the years prior, with only Alyansang Tapat sa Lasalista (Tapat) and four independent candidates laying out their platforms and plans to the student body. In the day prior, candidates of Santugon sa Tawag ng Panahon (Santugon) were declared ineligible to run due to violations in the Memorandum of Agreement, while Tapat was only left with 44 candidates eligible to run.

For this year’s Miting de Avance, The LaSallian presents videos of all the candidates’ speeches together with reviews to help the student body make an informed choice.

 

President

Independent candidate Pram Menghrajani, who is running for University Student Government (USG) President, shares her platform which states that the USG must have six senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and common sense. To ensure an effective USG, Menghrajani says that it must be able to recognize the problems of the students, hear out their concerns, ensure transparency, accountability and impartiality, provide quality services and facilities, feel the pulse of the students when it comes to university issues, and come up with concrete solutions that are grounded in reality.

“Instead of competing, we collaborate,” Menghrajani suggests. She mentions that in her term as USG Vice President for Internal Affairs this year, they were able to tap talents from different colleges. An example would be the charging stations around campus, an innovation developed by DLSU’s engineering students.

Menghrajani’s platform centers mostly on how the USG must reach out more to the students, and be able to utilize the talents and skills of students from different colleges.

 

Vice President for Internal Affairs

Tapat Vice President for Internal Affairs candidate Adrienne Cacho starts her speech by questioning what the purpose of the USG and candidates actually are, and says that the USG must not lose its relevance to the students. “Will we just allow every Lasallian to think that the USG is worthless?” she asked the audience in Filipino.

By ensuring this, she says that rather than competing with other political parties, what the USG should strive for is proper student representation.

She also mentions how the students and USG are limited by the system, citing the recent disqualification of candidates to run in the GE. “The biggest victims are the students, because their choices are being limited as to who they want to be their student leaders,” she furthers.

Independent Vice President for Internal Affairs candidate Marc Morales focuses on the fundamentals of what the USG should be about. He shares that his two years experience as an appointed officer in the USG reminded him of the issues surrounding the university. With this, he believes he can do so much more.

His platform consists of prioritizing the students, utilizing talents, strengthening relations and harmonizing goals. “An idea will just be an idea unless there is someone willing to push for it,” he says.

In the remaining parts of his speech, he noticeably mentions the platforms of Tapat and the independent candidates. He suggests that all those platforms can be applied in better serving the students, and that the students and USG must look at the bigger picture of what the University needs.

 

Vice President for External Affairs

Jon Ridge Ong, an independent candidate running for Vice President for External Affairs, gives a brief overview of his platform, which he simplifies as “the USG to go beyond”. He elaborates that representation should not just be limited to inside the university, but should ‘go beyond’ the campus’ borders. As an example, he cites that the student body has the burden of making a difference for the poor within the country, which according to him number roughly 30 million.

He furthers that it is important for students to try and bring about change despite the disparity between the student population and the number of people under poverty since, as he concludes, “To make a difference, all it takes is a few good men.”

 

Executive Secretary

In her speech, Kitkat Cuenca, Tapat candidate for Executive Secretary, shares that multiple systems, such as those on a national scale all the way down to those within households, exist in people’s lives, and that each of those systems play a vital role.

“For us to grow as individuals, these systems need to have processes that are efficient and proper,” she explains.

Cuenca also argues that the previous secretaries in the USG have made promises of being transparent, accountable, and providing proper information dissemination, but have failed to fully realize their platforms, further raising the question of the secretary’s relevance in the student government.

Because of this, she considers the idea of having a proper bureaucracy, which she defines as “ensuring that certain processes fall into the right hands”. She further argues that having proper bureaucracy ensures transparency, accountability, and information dissemination will be carried out properly.

She also calls into question the role of the student body in carrying out a positive change in society, stressing that “if we cannot be the change, if we cannot start the change, then who will?”

In concluding her speech, Cuenca strengthens her stand that the executive secretary’s role under her leadership will be more relevant and just to the student body.

“More than office management, we ensure people management. More than just doing your paperwork, we’re building relations. More than just receiving your concerns, [we make] sure each of you get a response,” she says.

 

Executive Treasurer

Tapat Executive Treasurer candidate Tristan Felipe stresses that he wants to fight for the students who were, are, and will be deprived of education because of tuition fee increases. He states that he is fighting for a zero percent tuition fee increase because it is a right of every student to access quality education.

He further reiterates that no matter what party an officer comes from, the USG should work hand-in-hand to achieve a common goal, which is to fight for the rights of the students.

“Not a single person can have a life that they have been dreaming of if no one will stand up, take courage, and fight for justice and freedom in this society,” he says.

Among his other plans are transparency of financial information and the proper budget allocation of the USG to maximize their functions.

Pat Sario, independent candidate running for Executive Treasurer, shares that her reason for  running stems from years of experience in the USG. Citing her involvement as appointed officer within the Office of the Executive Treasurer, Sario explains that she is aware of the student government’s financial systems.

In her platform, she stresses the importance of going back to basics as she stressed that there is slow progress within the USG. “This is evident in the details such as the availability of funds, processing period for activities, and transparency of reports,” she furthers.

Sario then moves to the major points of her platform,  namely system, service, and scholarship. According to her, the treasurer must first ensure transparency and accountability, in order to provide services to the students, such as scholarship opportunities.

 

School of Economics President

Tapat School of Economics presidential candidate Erielle Chua states that she wants the School of Economics to challenge the status quo. After mentioning some statistics, she also questions the justice system in the country. “It is time to fight against the injustices. It is time to fight for what is right and just,” she says.

She also aims to do so through student empowerment, saying that “with me, everything starts from empowering the students and allowing them to grow and actually call themselves Lasallians for God and country.”

 

College of Science President

Krizsa Lunar, Tapat candidate for college president in the College of Science, aims to make the University and the country appreciate the science more by implementing activities that concern their field. Lunar criticizes the past events of the college government which merely involved t-shirt selling, tree planting activities, and medical missions, which she feels was wasting the talents in the college.

She adds that for the past five years, the activities being implemented were limited, and this caused the unproductivity of said college. “Let’s break the cycle, College of Science. We, College of Science, can contribute by uncovering scientific information to societal and technological progress,” she says with determination.

Lunar also states that the USG should not rely on social media for information dissemination regarding the projects that are being implemented.

 

College of Engineering President

Tapat Gokongwei College of Engineering president candidate Benjamin Cruz advocates a progressive Lasallian education for the college. He questions the absence of engineering students in nation building from road constructions and transportation systems to infrastructures and better energy alternatives.

He stresses his goal to have students be of relevance to  society. “It is our time to show our relevance to the college and what we can do as Lasallian social innovators,” he says in Filipino.

He also encourages the students to learn outside the classroom and divert from mere technical skills through application. “We have to be more of what is expected from us,” he adds.

 

College of Business President

Tapat College of Business president candidate Mark Ilano aims to establish a culture of multisectoral engagement and national involvement for all students, especially those in the college. According to him, the students are more than just Lasallians, students are also Filipinos, and thus, he wants the students “at the forefront of social responsibility.” He further says that he wants to see Lasallians care about national issues, and not just issues enclosed in the gates of our campus.

He also criticizes the USG for not doing what it should be doing, which is to properly represent the students and uphold their rights as students. Instead, according to him, what the USG does is compete with the Council of Student Organizations and the organizations under it to be able to organize more activities which, he believes, is not the purpose of the USG.

 

College of Liberal Arts President

Tapat College of Liberal Arts (CLA) president candidate Oliver Amatorio introduces himself as a defender of LGBT rights because “he knows what it’s like to be prejudiced.” Because of his background, he has decided to do more, be more than just a normal student, believing that his college deserves more.

He and the other CLA candidates are proposing a platform which is not only for the University and for their college, but for Filipinos in general. He encourages the College of Liberal Arts to live up to the name of their college—be liberal.

“We should know what we should be fighting for,” he stresses in Filipino.

 

College of Education President

Nathalie Dela Rosa, Tapat College of Education (CED) president candidate, emphasizes one word—opportunities. Opportunities for future educators like her, and the students in her college. She remarks that educators are being neglected and ignored, thus, doors to opportunities is what she and the other CED batch government candidates  push for.

She says that the students may choose to vote for them or to abstain. Regardless, she emphasizes her determination that she and the others have to make a change in their college government—to make the CED students feel important by opening opportunities for them to transform the lives of others, to show what they can do as future educators, and to prove that they can make a significant change not only in the University, but to the outside as well.

“Give us a chance,” she says in Filipino. “Give us importance, give us a chance; we can give opportunities that you (CED students) need.”

Videos by Sean Kevin Joya