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An Open Letter to the Central Electoral Board on the UPLB USC 2012 Elections and the Current Crisis

in Student Representation 16 March 2012 Dr. Vivian A. Gonzales Head, Central Electoral Board, UPLB Dean, Ofce of Student Affairs, UPLB Dear Dr. Gonzales: Good day! We are the Movement of Students for Progressive Leadership in U.P. (MOVE U.P.), a leadership and service formation in the university that advocates progressive multiperspective activism, academic and leadership excellence, community involvement and empowered studentry. We are writing to forward our suggestions for the creation of an electoral code that will guide the conduct of student elections in the university, and express our stand in the issue of the chairmanship of the USC for Academic Year 2012-2013. We encountered several problems during and after the conduct of the 2012 UPLB USC/CSC Elections, to the extent that even our representation as students is in jeopardy. MOVE U.P. believes that these difculties stem from the lack of a clear electoral code that will regulate the conduct of elections. We bring to the table some points that we have identied by which we can further improve the conduct of elections. The following are our points: (1) On candidates qualications. Our representation in the USC should embody the values a student of UP should have. We are student leaders, thus, we should put a premium on the importance of our academics, since it is the nation who pays for our education. In the rst place, how do we expect our representation to function well in his or her duties if he or she cannot adequately execute his or her duties as a student? The current qualications for candidacy followed by the CEB and taken from the 1984 USC Consitution do not follow Article 440 of the Revised 2005 University of the Philippines System Code: (1) He/she should have at least one (1) year residence in the University; (2) He/she must be of good academic standing in his/her college; (3) He/she must carry the normal load prescribed by his/her college; (4) He/she must not have been found guilty in any disciplinary case of any act involving moral turpidue as dened in the Revised Penal Code.

In this regard, MOVE U.P. calls for the inclusion of an academic requirement, a residency requirement, and a load requirement as prescribed in the UP Code for those running for student council ofce. We believe that by simply following these qualications, we ensure and safeguard our representation in the USC/CSC. In recent years, we have fallen victim to irresponsible student leaders compromising our representation in the BOR and the student councils: the USC Chairperson was not able to nish her term due to academic delinquency in 2009, and in the same year the Student Regent,our sole representation in the BOR who was from UPLB disenfranchized thousands of UP students across the country when she failed to prove her status as a student during her term. Several USC councilors have either resigned or were expelled due to issues of academics. We should make sure that those who run for ofce are responsible enough to handle at least the minimum requirement for their academics in the university. (2) On the Election Schedule. A large amount of time is spent by political parties in creating programs of actions and other related campaign paraphernalia such as publicity materials and audiovisual presentations and preparing the candidates for room-to-room campaigns. To give ample time for parties to prepare before they present themselves to the students, the ling of candidacies and the campaign period should be properly spaced by a minimum of a week so as not to waste the campaign period and give more time for the students to really know the candidates thru their platformsand programs. (3) On Posting Rules and Online Campaigns. The lack of clear rules regarding the posting of materials leads to parties bombarding the voters with election paraphernalia. MOVE U.P. believes that as iskolars ng bayan para sa bayan, we should go beyond petty personality politics and instead, focus on principles and programs that the parties bring to the table. Unfortunately, elections often turn into a carnival of smiles and faces, so instead of focusing on principles and programs, we are enchanted by the allure of the supercial. To help the student make decisions based on principles ad programs, campaign materials and posting areas should be limited and be properly allocated to CSCs and USC parties and candidates. We propose that the Central Electoral Board identify areas inside the campus where materials should be, and set limits to the kinds, quantity and sizes of campaign paraphernalia such as posters, iers, and handbills. There are no identied guidelines in campaigning online which lead to chaos in cyberspace. Several parties even extend their campaign online although the campaign period has already ended in the university. There should be clear guidelines regarding ofcial campaigning online to give all parties equal leverage in reaching out to the students of the university. (4) On the automation of elections. The automation of elections is a very important development in the further democratization of an important student activity thru the incorporation of technology. However, the current system has failed to increase student participation. In other campuses where elections are

automated, they enjoy a higher voter turnout and yet they only take a day for the actual voting proper. We do not call for a revert to the manual voting, instead, we call for better preparations in the system to be used for elections. Photographs of candidates should be removed from the interface to save on bandwidth and promote a more principle and program-based vote rather than a focus on personalities. Use of the university internet should also be focused on the elections to avoid connection problems. We also enjoin the USC and the CEB to allot enough time to prepare for the elections and foresee probable difculties. The current issue of the chairpersonship of the USC could have been avoided if safeguards and rules were set and upheld through an electoral code. In relation to this issue, we believe that the USC/CSC elections is a student activity, and therefore, the mandate of the students should take precedence over simple administrative discretion. We call on the Ofce of the Student Affairs and the Central Electoral Board to recognize who the students chose, and not focus on mere technicalities. Thank you very much and good day. Respectfully, ! Ernest Francis R. Calayag President Movement of Students for Progressive Leadership in U.P. CC: Members of the Central Electoral Board

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