STUDENT politics in the University has been on a decline perhaps irreversibly as the recently concluded student polls recorded the lowest number of bets and the lowest voter turnout in the new century for UST.
It seems like Thomasians are really apathetic when it comes to student politics. But what causes this apathy?
It may be because students do not really see and feel the relevance of student councils. It could be observed in the past year that most of these councils did not really serve their purpose of representing and of being the voice of the student body.
What is appalling is that these councils were only perceived as mere event organizers of Paskuhan or college weeks.
Another reason why most students opted not to vote is because of the lack of choices in the ballot. In the Central Student Council (CSC), all the candidates ran unopposed except for the secretary, and in the case of the local student councils, half of the 24 college-based councils in the University had only one candidate for presidency.
With only a 25-percent minimum vote requirement, as stated in the University Student Election Code (USEC) of 2011, candidates who are running unopposed could easily get the seat.
Although one can leave his or her ballot unanswered, there is still no choice for students to vote for “abstain,” as stated by the USEC.
The schedule of election season as stated in the USEC has also posed a problem since the University has changed its academic calendar four years ago. Most of the students are having their final examinations during the election week, giving them little to no time to go to their designated precincts to vote.
Outdated provisions of the elections code seem to be the main culprit as to why electoral participation in the University is on a decline.
It is high time for the UST Central Commission on Election (Comelec) to expedite the updates on the nine-year-old election code for a smooth and more effective student polls.
But it could also be observed that talks on the reassessment of USEC seem to only surface during election season.
From the time of Alyssa Arreola as Comelec chair in to the two-year term of Arvin Bersonda in the commission, up to the current helm of Moriah Mendiola to regulate this year’s polls, Comelec heads have all promised to update the elections code. Their interviews with the Varsitarian reveal that every time there is a change in administration, they will always disregard the work done by the previous Comelec and draft new revisions—so that revisions and updates made by the previous administration are junked and the new Comelec will have to start againfrom square one, ad infinitum.
In effect, UST’s Comelec reflects the bane of Philippine politicians and governments: once they come into power they will disregard the initiatives of the former administrations, initiatives that were funded by taxpayer’s money, so that they could do their “own thing,” of course using taxpayer’s money again.
The lack of expertise and initiative to update the USEC calls for a more competent and more determined Comelec leadership that would engage more Thomasians and make them participate in student polls.
