SEEKING to boost student engagement in campus and national issues, a former campaigns and advocacies director of the Artlets Student Council is running for Central Student Council (CSC) public relations officer (PRO).
“I realized that our lives as students are never detached from the lives of others,” said Annie Agon, a legal management sophomore, in her opening speech during the Tagisan 2024 on Nov. 9.
Agon’s platform, titled “Pag-asa ng Bayan sa Lipunan,” calls for a fresh learning experience for Thomasians through an “alternative curriculum” with a Filipino perspective of society and immersion in poor and working-class communities.
“We must also know the struggle of our fellow Filipinos, especially the class of workers and peasants,” the PRO candidate said. “Through ‘Pag-asa ng Bayan sa Komunidad,’ the students will be living with the basic masses and will have discussions about their struggles.’
Agon also proposed the “Estudyante Kasama ang Bayan” program, a series of formal and informal educational discussions with students to improve their access to information and encourage critical thinking.
These platforms align with her view that issues facing the country and the UST student body are intertwined.
“‘Yong buhay natin sa loob ng UST, kung paano natin siya pinag-aaralan, kasabay rin doon ‘yong pag-aaral sa lipunan sa labas,” she told the Varsitarian. “Siyempre, ‘di naman forever na nag-aaral lang. In the future, directly affected talaga ‘yong mga buhay natin sa labas ng UST.”
Agon chairs the UST chapter of Kabataan, a partylist group representing the youth in Congress and is part of the Makabayan bloc.
Student repression
Agon is running unopposed as CSC PRO and is one of only two candidates in this year’s elections.
This marks the lowest turnout in recent years and came after the mass withdrawal of all aspiring student leaders, who cited a “system resistant to reform” as their reason for backing out.
READ: 2 aspirants file certificates of candidacy for CSC polls
Agon attributed the decline in political participation among Thomasians to student repression within UST.
“Bumaba talaga ‘yong political participation dito sa loob; pero bakit nga ba? Mayroon kasi tayong malalang repressive system dito sa loob na mawawalan ka talaga ng gana,” the PRO hopeful said.
She said the University bureaucracy had hindered previous student leaders from pursuing change, such as revising the 21-year-old CSC charter.
“‘Yong constitution natin ngayon, hindi na talaga siya akma sa nangyayari ngayon,” she said.
Facing a shortened term if elected, Agon pinned her hopes on Thomasians to help the CSC regain its luster and achieve its objectives.
“Pinagkakatiwalaan natin ‘yong mga Tomasino na kaya rin talaga nilang mamuno na kasama ‘yong student council,” she said. “Eventually, kaya na ng lahat ng Tomasino na mamuno collectively.”
