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Biochemistry junior Nashville Mauricio plans to focus on promoting student leadership and streamlining processes to address structural concerns within the council as he runs unchallenged for the secretary position in the University’s Central Student Council (CSC) elections.

Mauricio, the coordinator under CSC Secretary Meckia Villianueva’s office, claimed that his background is crucial to his platforms and candidacy.

“I offer the students an experienced leadership that knows the ins and outs of the Central Student Council and will be able to help ease whatever problems we have for the past two years since I already know what those are,” he said in an interview with TomasinoWeb.

**Platforms and goals **

Mauricio viewed his platforms as actions that unite Thomasians to meet any goal.

If elected as secretary, he intends to push his platform, “Sign on Time,” which seeks the creation of a time frame for offices to sign student council documents to avoid delays.

“Ensuring that there’s a proper time frame for organizations and local student councils can help alleviate problems they encounter,” he explained.

The university's administrative offices, student councils, and organizations already have a digital system established to manage event scheduling and approval called Electronic Reservation of Scheduled Events and Reservation of Venue (e-ReSERVe).

He added that this will ensure efficient paper processing for projects and allow organizations to “hone the skill of the staff members” and “create more projects that would be beneficial for the staff to encourage student leadership from them.”

In the previous CSC elections, past CSC secretary candidates made similar promises. For example, incumbent CSC secretary Meckia Villanueva's "Hakbang Tomasino" platform and CSC 2023–2024 secretary Harold Piralta pledged to streamline event filing processes in e-ReSERVe.

Mauricio also voiced concern over a claim of a perceived reduction in student leadership at UST, inspiring him to create a platform for a fact-based study to prove the decline.

"I envision it as research where once and for all, we in UST can have the data regarding the actual status of student leadership in our university because I've been making the case that for years now, we're just assuming that there's a decline in student leadership but we don't have the proper data for it,” he said.

He said that the collected data will help create projects or implement policies that will help enhance the number of student leaders.

Meanwhile, “SIGLA” complements the research as it is a program that will enhance student leadership in the University.

“I'm envisioning it as not a one day event but a series of events throughout the year,” Mauricio added. “Ano man ang result of the research sa fact-based analysis, doon natin ma-stem kung ano dapat ang pagtuunan natin ng pansin.”

Another key platform Mauricio proposed is “Central Commitment,” a program designed to reinforce active participation in the Central Board. Local student council presidents will appoint an executive associate to manage and represent their local councils in every Central Board meeting.

“By having an executive associate, they would be well informed and create a stance. Kapag nanghihingi naman ng information or ng stances with the Central Board, it’s not a one-day thing so at least they can inform their presidents on what’s being done,” he explained on the possible role of the executive associate in CSC.

Addressing system flaws

This year's CSC election had five candidates, which is an improvement from last year when there were just two candidates. However, the president and treasurer positions are still vacant.

Mauricio reflected on the withdrawal of the CSC candidates last April 2024, saying there was some change in administration autonomy, like easier communication between student councils and offices.

“From working from that until now, I saw the very big difference when it comes to the administration on how they are open to hearing student concerns and managing student relationships and student conflicts,” he said when asked how the Office of Student Affairs (OSA) changed its approach toward student demands.

Mauricio added that the OSA took a step in hearing student concerns after the withdrawal of CSC candidates and “realized that there’s something wrong happening” between the students and the office.

Meanwhile, Mauricio said it is the student’s right to know and be aware of what's currently happening in the UST Faculty Union (USTFU) after it declared deadlock on the 2021-2026 collective bargaining agreement (CBA).

“So, as a student leader, my focus and primary goal is for the students to be informed on the money they [University] give,” he added.

Stance on student burdens

Mauricio also expressed frustration at the excessive workload and the lack of health breaks.

“Our local student council is trying to make amendments where students can rely at least sa mental health break. Kasi, di ba, from last year, mayroon pa tayo yung mental health break nang a day or two. So, this year, parang, wala na siya,” he said.

Mauricio added that bringing the mental health break back again will be beneficial for students.

“We can easily ask or seek recommendations with the administration about a feasible solution for those,” Mauricio said

The University's last declaration of a two-day academic break was in March 2023. The two-day academic break was established in 2021 in response to student mental health concerns during the pandemic.

The aspiring secretary also emphasized that “underrepresented groups” in UST, like the LGBTQIA+ community, should have straightforward representation guidelines.

Apart from the guidelines, he plans to continue challenging the administration to address issues due to the alleged “increased responsiveness.”

Drawing on his background credentials as both a local organization officer and a biochemistry student, Mauricio acknowledges the rigorous academic demands he faces. Still, he claims to balance his work and studies effectively.

“I've been doing this since first year. So, I'm already experienced in paper processing and bigat na work,” the secretary aspirant said.

Looking back on his experience, Mauricio said his background is “proof or a testament of what I already did and what I can offer.”