Tabuno pledges for bolder, determined CSC amidst ‘admin restrictions’
By Justine Xyrah Garcia
DISCLAIMER: TomasinoWeb remains to be a non-partisan media organization that does not campaign for any candidate.
Being a student leader is not an easy feat as it requires a lot of time, effort, and dedication to serve your constituents while also attending to your other responsibilities as a student.
With more than five years of experience as a student leader, Ierathel “Uno” Tabuno now takes a bigger challenge as she vies for the highest seat in the University’s Central Student Council (CSC) — the presidency.
“My experience started [way] before ABSC pa… with all these experiences, nakita ko na rin kasi yung mga kaya kong gawin. It widened my vision on what doors are there for me to be able to give service to my fellow Thomasians,” Tabuno shared in an exclusive interview with TomasinoWeb.
The third-year legal management student also serves as the incumbent Vice President External of the Faculty of Arts and Letters. Instead of pursuing another term in the local council, Tabuno opted to continue her leadership in CSC, seeing that the latter is a wider platform where she can forward her pro-student agendas.
“I believe na doon [CSC] ko kasi maibibigay ‘yung lahat para sa mga fellow Thomasians,” she said.
But what exactly can Tabuno offer to the Thomasian community?
According to the lone presidential aspirant, her proposed plan of actions are not new concepts for the students — as these are just similar to the platforms that had already been proposed by the current and previous councils.
“In terms of the newness of the project, [these are] not new concepts. Pero the way we will do it, ‘yun po ang pagbubutihin namin,” Tabuno explained.
As she sees it, the mandate of the CSC is to “continue all the good things and learn from their [past administrations] mistakes,” implying that the Thomasian community is about to see an “improved version” of the council once she wins.
Pushing for a braver CSC
Every year, Thomasians hear the promise for a bolder central council — one that does not back down from setbacks and will continue to push for pro-student agendas no matter what.
As Tabuno had observed, bureaucracy or the lack of say of elected officials in the decision-making process remains one of the biggest challenges for student leaders to achieve their proposed changes.
“They have all promised to fix the same thing — this is not to say na wala silang nagagawa. It just takes on [a] new challenge for the succeeding set of student leaders,” she said.
With the resignation of CSC auditor Dale Marollano earlier this month, Tabuno believes that the next set of executive board members should step up their game and not “stop when a door closes” on them.
Once elected, Tabuno vowed to not give up right away if she faces a series of no with her proposed policies and changes.
“We need to assure Thomasians na meron pa rin tayong magagawa, no matter how hard the situation is. Tuloy pa rin ang laban,” the third-year legal management student said.
“Kasi if we say no now, wala na tayong magagawa and hindi na natin mabibigay ‘yung panalo sa kanila [students],” she added.
The presidential candidate also acknowledged that the council faces restrictions imposed by the Office for Student Affairs, the office which supervises the CSC.
But for her, the CSC should not take these alleged restrictions as the final answer.
“What we need to do is to always show that we always stand by our principles at hindi tayo mag-a-adjust na lang,” Tabuno added.
OSA previously drew flak online after Marollano publicized his resignation. Some Thomasian netizens even shared their personal experiences, echoing the claim that the admin is restrictive.
The office, however, remained silent over this issue.
Going beyond the events organizer role
The commotion earlier this month had also revived the talks whether Thomasian student leaders are catalysts for change or just mere organizers of events in the University.
It can be remembered that the ex CSC auditor shared with TomasinoWeb that the University admin only sees student leaders as events organizers and the latter do not really have a say on school policies.
For the next academic year, Tabuno — if elected — eyes to go beyond what the UST administration expects from CSC: lesser short term event projects, and more of recommending policies.
“Nonetheless, ang gusto ko talaga for the council ay less tayo sa mga events na short term talaga. And more of focusing on kung paano tayo makakapag propose, kung paano tayo makakapag recommend [of policies]. More on talking with the offices and consulting them,” she said.
Tabuno clarified that the CSC, of course, is still expected to help on University-wide events like Welcome Walk, Paskuhan, and Baccalaureate Mass. However, the council must spend more of its time on policy rather than event making.
The presidential candidate also said that it would be better if a clause in the CSC constitution can be added to clearly define the Council’s mandate as a policymaking body.
Continuous ChaCha talks
The Thomasian community can expect that once elected, Tabuno will continue what incumbent CSC President Nathan Agustin had started on the matter of revising the 2003 CSC Constitution.
According to the third year legal management student, another round of discussion will be held with Thomasians next academic year to ensure that everyone concerned will be well informed about the proposed changes.
“Next year, we [will] do another set of consultation with our stakeholder population. And from there, ipapasa na sa Central Board. We need to make sure lang na consulted talaga ang stakeholders,” Tabuno said.
When asked for her opinion on Agustin’s proposed points to revise, the presidential candidate said that she is “very fond” of most of them — except for one.
Tabuno disclosed with TomasinoWeb that she still feels “lukewarm” on the kind of election process that is being proposed by the current council.
“Personally, I believe na kailangan pa ring i-respect ‘yung democracy na gusto ng students and the way we choose our executive board officers sa council. I believe kailangan pa itong baguhin, since may two sides of it pa,” she explained.
One of the proposed changes in the 2003 CSC Constitution is the structure of the executive board. The transparency report released by Agustin earlier this month stated that:
The president and vice president shall be voted via University-wide elections while the positions of secretary, treasurer, auditor, public relations officer, and chief of staff shall be nominated by the President, and elected by the Central Student Legislative Body.
Like what the report had stated about the proposal still being subject to further review, Tabuno said that it must be consulted first with the Thomasian body who would be affected by this alteration.
Strengthening student involvement
The past academic years had shown a bit of a decline in the participation of Thomasians in University politics.
From low voter turnouts and unopposed candidates to uninformed students about policy proposals, it is evident that the student body now takes less time to involve themselves in student politics.
For Tabuno, the next student council must also work on ensuring that students — regardless if they are part of the council or not — are aware of the process they shall take if they want to become a student leader in UST.
“I believe these things should be equally accessible to students. Dapat hindi lang siya sa mga may connections at alam na kung anong gagawin,” she said.
Through her platform ‘Open CSC,’ the aspirant eyes to publicize steps on how to run and be part of the student council, and what are the papers they need to prepare.
When it comes to student engagement on policy making, Tabuno acknowledged that not all students can be reached by disseminating a Google docs link containing proposed policies and changes, like the Constitutional revision.
“We need a more aggressive way of informing the students…Hindi dapat nagri-release lang ng documents, it [should] be digestible kahit simpleng student ka lang,” she said during the miting de avance on March 25.
Tabuno emphasized that there are technical terms that most students are not familiar with. So instead of just focusing on disseminating documents, her term will also make sure that students can process what they are reading.
“We will prioritize na hindi lamang kayo basta consulted, but the information that you get is something you can understand,” she said.
