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Sitting on a green couch, Nathan Agustin carefully fixed his camera angle while checking his audio in his San Juan City home, 30 minutes before his alternative dispute resolution class.
Dedicating his last years in UST, the third-year civil law student and presidential aspirant for the 2022 Central Student Council (CSC) elections faces the challenge of upholding and fulfilling old promises.
Winning 491 votes, Agustin was elected president of the Faculty of Civil Law student council in July 2021. He is also elected as the speaker of CSC’s legislative arm — the Central Board (CB), in the same year.
Fueled by grassroots experience, Agustin still has the political will to bid for the highest post in the council. He gambles confidently, as he believes that he understands the predicaments of the students during his seven-year stay and service as a student-leader in the University.
“Imagine, you [are] going to have a leader who [is] finally going to give the last years he [has] in UST to ensure that everything will be done and every concern will be aired out,” he said.
Anchored mainly on student ease and representation, Agustin’s “10-point agenda” and the promise of its actualization in the University fuels his campaign.
Pounding to the core for students’ code
“Marami tayong napagdaanan ngayong pandemic and we can really get through that to motivate that to raise this clamor, that is the one thing I believe we can start doing,” Agustin said, referring to his stint of pushing for every candidate’s undying promise throughout the years – the students’ code.
Originally called the “Magna Carta for Students,” the students’ code has been passed on from one administration to another since it was first filed in 2004 by former CSC president Xialeemar Valdeavilla.
The students’ code has been Agustin’s main advocacy since his time in the Central Board. He believes that having uniform guidelines could allow for more pro-student policies.
At the same time, he also recognizes the precarious situation of this code due to different circumstances like the lack of clamor among students and the University administration not recognizing its importance.
Aware of this situation, he admits that it might not be approved. Yet, he assures that there will be progress.
To prevent it from stagnating at the administrative level, he promised to bolster the narrative of representation and recognition of student rights to the University administration.
“I am really hopeful that we will have significant progress, if not the passage of the students’ code,” he said in an interview with TomasinoWeb.
“Gagamitin natin ito upang iparealize sa admin offices na importante talaga na may representasyon tayo at may recognition ng rights natin.” he added
If approved, Agustin said that the student council’s response to new policies would be more organized, citing stronger student involvement in policy making.
“If there [is] a students’ code, nakikita niyo [students] before the policy is given, kasama na tayo doon, at may recognition na sa karapatan natin agad,” he said in an interview.
“Maybe that’s one thing that we can use, to make the administrative level realize na importante na iprioritize ito kasi it’s all interconnected sa pinagdadaanan natin lalo na in a pandemic at sa araw-araw din naman bago pa man mag pandemic,” he added.
Balance and accountability: waking up UST’s High Court
Aside from the Executive Board (EB) and the CB, the central judiciary board is a branch of the student body that is barely being utilized.
For Agustin, the board’s structure should be reinforced and not just come out during certain issues. It should also serve as the balance between the EB and the CB.
“Kasi minsan makikita natin na may isang body na nagdodominante sa proceedings, minsan ang EB nakakalead sa political climate ng student governance, ganun din ang CB, so sino magbabalance niyan?” he said in an interview.
In 2017 elections, the central judiciary board ordered the UST central Comelec to junk the abstain votes due to several positions left vacant after failing to meet the majority votes.
Article VIII Section III of the CSC constitution defines the central judiciary board’s powers:
- To exercise exclusive original jurisdiction over impeachment cases filed against any member of the CSC.
- To review, revise, reverse, modify or affirm on appeal or certiorari as the rules may provide decisions, orders, and rulings of the COMELEC in cases provided by this constitution.
- To mediate over all cases where a question of law is involved or in cases where their jurisdiction is invoked.
- To provide a simplified procedure for the just and speedy disposition of all cases brought before them.
Further emphasizing the reinforcement of the judiciary board, Agustin also acknowledged the lack of an independent body, like the Ombudsman or the Sandiganbayan, to ensure accountability of council officers.
But for him, there is no need to add another body to settle complaints. He recommended adding a “first-level court” managed by students, which is another example of student representation in policy-making.
“Mas magakakroon ng activities dahil ang nagmamange nito ay students. Hindi ‘yung hihinatayin pa natin bumaba yung mga admin para i-address to which may take months or even years,” he said.
Making it easy
Another highlight of his “10-point agenda” is the ease of student activities, which hopes to lessen the bureaucracy in terms of processing paperwork for various student activities.
The mandates’ goal is for a hopeful reduction of signatures and consolidation of requirements into one approval.
“To be blunt, pahirap siya,” he said, claiming that student-leaders are often discouraged from holding events due to the “hassle” of the process.
“Nakakasakal na talaga siya sa local student councils,” he added.
He cited examples like the Office for Student Affairs’ (OSA) sanctioned protocols for inviting persons with dignitaries to organizations, and the permission to post (PTP) forms.
“Why not let [us] just ask the Office for Student Affairs to make one whole matrix kung saan andoon na? Pirmado in every page by the adviser but just one document, hindi na kailangan padamihin pa, para ‘di na mahirapan ang mga student leaders na [gumawa] ng mga formats nila at maggawa ng iba’t ibang papeles,” he said.
Solving gaps between perspectives
When asked why he is a better president than the previous ones, Agustin cited his grassroots approach and “policy-driven experience.”
He believes that the local student council needs to translate their experience to a central level to avoid a “gap between perspectives.” Still, he acknowledged the possibility of having conflicts of interests since they also have a direct responsibility to the central board and their respective colleges.
“What happens there is nagkakaroon ng dissonance, and right now I took the opportunity to run as CSC president to really break that dissonance between the local student councils and central student councils,” he said.
In the end, the greatest challenge for Agustin is making this happen and not leaving it as just another promise.
“Hindi tayo magiging inhibited sa next academic year,” he said. “Tuloy tuloy natin ang laban mas magiging matapang tayo sa pag approach nito and we will make sure na we will make this happen.”
Ian Patrick Laqui
Reports Editor, Reports Writer
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