Register to Vote

Amended Schedule of Satellite Registration in the Barangays of Cagayan de Oro City. This will be held in their Barangay Hall respectively.

Pagatpat April 27 – 28
Bayanga April 29-30
Tagpangi May 4-5
Mambuaya May 6-7
Dansolihon May 11-12
Tignapoloan May 13-14
Besigan May 20-21
Tuburan May 25-26
Pigsag-an May 27-28
Tumpagon June 1-2
Macasandig June 8 -10
Indahag June 15-16
Macabalan June 22-24
Puntod June 29 – July 1
Consolacion July 6-7
Barangay 1 -40July 8 – 11
Iponan July 12 – 15
Bulua July 27 – 29
Patag August 3 -5
Carmen August 10 -12
Balulang August 17 -19
Kauswagan August 24 -26
Bonbon August 31 – Sept 2
Bonbon Sept 1 – 2
Bayabas Sept 7 -8
Lumbia Sept 9 -10
Pagalungan Sept 14 – 15
Canitoan Sept 21 - 23

Campus Politics Memo Points

I’ve realized that the students actually have tremendous influence in the different school boards and committees. If we have just ordered our top agendas and consistently lobby it to the administrators with the right people and reason, certain policy dents may happen that improve students’ welfare in general. I was part of the Awards and Recognition Committee, and I saw how the chairperson really values students’ opinion. We will change the percentage sharing in the selection of the class valedictorian from 50-50 to 40-60 which gives heavier bearing on involvement. We also included an interview portion to verify the candidates’ depth of understanding of his/her Jesuit Education aside from the scripted and well prepared speech. Making significant influence is another story but the conducive atmosphere is present. One good result of this was the actual allocation of a Php 5,000 operational capital of all extra-curricular organization. This is a breakthrough and a product of cordial and well supported lobbying.

The idea of student oppression has been reduced as a political tool or a sort of leverage employed by far left groups to incite sympathy and animosity among some vulnerable sectors of the student body towards the administration thus gaining some “patriotic” or “maki-baka” votes. With my interactions with other student leaders, I have come to realize that we are by far the most liberal in terms of student government autonomy in the entire region. I guess responsibility is primarily the priority with this given freedom. Still, we need to be vigilant on certain actions taken by higher powers that may infringe our rights stipulated in the Magna Carta.

Tactful partnership with the Administration I believe is still the best policy in solving common challenges such as quality education and student services. If by consensus, the representatives of the student body deems that the administration is or has caused the problem, diplomatic bi-lateral talks supported by written facts testimonies, and alternatives is still the best and the most Atenean way of getting our point across.

Political Parties should be encouraged in the University so students can learn and appreciate the value of critical thinking, social analysis and political action.

I recommend that all of the new university clusters (eg Research and Outreach Cluster, Mission and Ministry Cluster) should include one student representative in their general board meetings. I believe this new line can open great opportunities of cooperation, collaboration and communication.

Students who observe inconsistencies or “injustices” by our hardworking security guards should report it directly to the security office so corrective action could be made. From there, certain procedures should be followed.

All who undergo the Freshmen Formation Program should touch and understand the topic on the Magna Carta of Students’ Rights and Responsibilities. It should be part of their formation curricula. [Which had been acted upon by the 15th Directorate]

With intelligent and reasonable analysis you deem your teacher inadequate or has grossly violated your rights, do not hesitate to talk to him/her first. Or go the other way of reporting it to the OSA if the gravity is deemed heavy or employ a student mediator from the Xavier Students’ Action Center to help you process the case. [Which had been acted upon by the 15th Directorate]

The College Councils in essence should be basically responsible for injecting the spunk based on their college culture in student life since they have the direct authority over the student base. The Central Student Government on the other hand is challenged to make “governance” a popular and cool practice. Use plurk.

Shift Gear out of USA

I believe the day of judgement has passed. And I am most likely will not be flying to the United States of America. The reason behind the results is not yet clear. I believe the Global Undergraduate Exchange Program trimmed downed the national grantees from 15 to 10 and they prioritized cultural minorities which is in essence the major core requirement of the program. Still, a glimmer of hope still exists because of the “unstable” nature of the final list. Some may back out or other slots of other countries are not filled.

Nevertheless this is once more a great opportunity to put character into test. Why so? Did you ever have that feeling of a sense of heaviness, a sense of sinking desperation, a sense of dread when something you highly hope for seems to fade away every tick of the clock? When I got word that one of my fellow nominees got their ultimate call around morning, I waited and waited for mine to ring as well. There is always that sense of great optimism that any second now my phone will ring. But when the clock seems to skid longer, it came into me that “hey, maybe it is not for you”. It is in that moment when a tug of war happened inside me. I was getting pulled by the impending reality of not getting it and the other force saying just wait and see. When I got word that only 4 made it in Mindanao and at that moment I knew 3 nominees were already contacted, the beating of my heart seemed to increase. And suddenly, an hour before lunch time, I got a text message saying that another nominee from Zamboanga got the call. It is final; we didn’t make it to the top 10 list. In an instant, a flashback occurred in my head. From the day of application, the day of interview, the toefl exam, the things I have to trade off, the fantasies and the plans when I return. It was quite similar to the mix of emotions during my course shift a semester ago. Absorbing this explosion of scenery in my head signalled me to move up to the next level of the interior processing which I have tired to master. A sense of indifference automatically overrode my system. I began to tame myself, my expectations and finally set my soul to a full year in Xavier University next school year. I will embrace again my mission at home. I believe it was not hard to shift gear because in the beginning of this potential journey, I already plan courses of action when it happens not as what I expect. I have an alternative plan if ever I will not get what I am hopeful about. I will be in full time service to the XU community and beyond.

In a way, I feel blessed to have gone through this feeling of great hope, deep desperation and then great freedom. I guess millions of other citizens of the world had gone through a disappointing stage in life and just rubbed it off but it is only these rare moments of dread that we can summon the values that have defined our character and prove it once more that one of the most enduring truths is that the problem in this world is not the problem itself, but how we as individuals and as humanity deals with it.

AMDG

SUMMER PROJECT

To transform the realization posted in “SIN OF A CITY BOY” into concrete action, I have come to the decision to apply for a summer job! Classic isn’t it?!

I will be working as assistant to the Coordinator for Student Activities and Leadership Development Office. This job was actually offered to me. This would be my first non-volunteer job. I hope to absorb the value of earning from your labour, self-discipline and submission to authority. So I’ll deal basically with strategic planning, program design and project evaluation of student activities and leadership programs. This also holds an assistantship in the transition project of the Central Student Government.

I will also volunteer for Kabataang Bayani, an electoral education initiative implemented through the Kristohanong Katilingban sa Pagpakabana – Social Involvement Office. This is a summer workshop series in different parishes for the youth. We hope to teach them the importance of voting as a sacred duty to ourselves and especially to our future.

I want share this because there is a tremendous amount of opportunity where we can share our effort and time for a greater project of building hope for a better day. Summer is supposedly a period of rest, but I feel I should not waste the opportunity this free period brings.

Little Things of Change

The Directorate is the highest policy making body of the Central Student Government. If you recall your Pol Sci class, it is the equivalent of Congress. This year marks the 15th year of the existence of the Directorate and this is the reason why it is called the 15th Directorate. It is an organic body composed of the elected Presidents of the council and 2 sectoral representatives. These are the Chairpersons of the Xavier University – United Religious Organizations and the Assembly of Extra-Curricular Organizations. Their major mandated task is to craft and pass legislation. For the past months in session, here are the key contributions of the 15th Directorate.

Setting the trend Opening of the 15th Directorate– this is the first time the Directorate officially opened witnessed by the Leadership Community and Administration during the summer. It is also where the triumvirate individually addressed the congregation of their vision and plans. We hope to start a tradition of this sort.

Creation of the Xavier Students’ Action Center - Still in its infancy, this center hopes to carry effectively the processing of students’ concerns and complaints.

The integration of the Magna Carta and Student Org Awareness into the new FFP Curriculum – this is a collaborative effort between the Directorate and the Freshmen Formation Program that aims to cultivate the sense of involvement for the freshmen. This is planned to be implemented in the next school year.

Formation of the XU Green Crusade (Legislation Package) – This is a series of enactments that aims to stir the consciousness of students and their council about the need to keep our surroundings clean. This includes the banning of Styr phones from the councils and the initial creation of an autonomous body charge of organizing and implemented environmental initiatives sponsored by the United Arts and Sciences Student Council and XU United Religious Organization through their Green Hour.

The enrolment assistance of our Muslim brothers and sisters – This enactment is applied every time the Holy month of Ramadan falls under enrolment or payment of fees. This hopes to aid our Muslim brothers and sisters in reducing any physical burden in time when they fast and contemplate deeply the presence Allah.

Extra-Curricular operational subsidy – in partnership with the Office of President of the CSG, finally the extra-curricular organizations are given operation capital of Php 5,000 every semester.

Creation of the Xavier University Student Leaders’ Code of Ethics – this is a code that hopes to guide student leaders to be examples of Atenean moral decency.

1st XU Forum – this a gathering of the student leadership community that aims to identify in consensus the major concerns present and future governments should prioritize. We aim that it will become an annual official gathering before the start of the academic year for better and consistent direction setting.

Inclusion of the KKP-Chairman as a member of the Directorate – this is an expansion of the Directorate that aims to gather multiple student orientation especially in the socio-political involvements of students

The Directorate Blog – for transparency, record keeping, and interaction, the Directorate published its first blog. The address is http://www.the15thdirectorate.wordpress.com/ where you can get all the resolutions, statements, enactments, and important documents of the Central Student Government.

Blog to Blog campaign - an experimental initiative, the Directorate tapped the power of the blog world by requesting XU Bloggers to copy and paste the "12 Little Things Every Atenean can do to Help our XU Community" in their own blog sites.This initiative hopes to spur a little sense of responsibility in part of each individual and a ignite a sense of duty to the community. This was also circulated through a Directorate memo around campus. We hope that this little reminder would spur a change in our consciousness.

These are the humble contribution of the Directorate, as a deliberative body to the community. As you can see, these dwell more on the institutional and process development of the government for the student body in our hopes to set our reforms in the long-term. We hope that what we have nurtured would continue to bear good fruits for future generations to come. More has yet to be done.

HOT POLITICS THAT WAS

On March 31 - noon time, my position as Vice-President officially expired. The end of a roller coaster journey finally is at hand and this deserves some points to reflect and share. First, I want to share that the office of the Vice-President sounds to be the most useless job in a government. As if I am waiting for the President to die or to flunk and take office. But thanks to the framers of the CSG constitution, I was also mandated to be the convener of the 15th Directorate – the sort of congress composed of the presidents of the 7 college councils. Now, it is in this setup where my problem began. As any man sees it, I am serving two masters at one time - the executive and the convener of the legislative branch. In its legal wisdom, this is an ideal set up where the powers can harmoniously link from branch to branch but this is far from reality in my situation. To put it plainly, a noticeable rift began to happen between the councils and the executive body after the General Assembly [due to some parochial reactions to a fusty blog post]. So I have to shift my gear so I acted as the immediate mediator of the sides that solidified even my heart demanded justice for the importance of the councils in the CSG framework. This is where the fun started.

I seem to ping pong from side to side, always compromising and mediating. I began to be passive and employed a policy in which I called “appeasement” [not firing the shots] which was tested during the surfacing of an impeachment initiative against the president. The impeachment during the first semester was never filed due to this and I considered it a victory since we preserved the stability of the government. In this time frame, there were also some circulating rumours that the Commissions were the actual culprits behind a coup de tat plot. This was demystified during the mid year retreat in Opol when they were called for and admitted that they themselves disfavour this “non-substantive” impeachment complaint. So in this present predicament, I felt like in the hot seat because I pretty much influence the very soul of the democratic institution of the student government – the Directorate/ the Congress. Fast forward; this seat was finally put in the test when the call for impeachment grew with substantive claims and data. The rift eventually erupted into a massive fault line fuelled by the seemingly intentional by pass of the Directorate’s authority, some mishaps in the campaign period, personal slurs and political alliances. This eventually resulted to the suspension of the president for the rest of his term by a higher power.

One thing that taught me during this period is the not so pleasant reality when politics is occupying too much space in the head especially in people you look up to. It can cause us to be calculative and manipulative, horrific attributes for young leaders who are supposedly the future leaders of this nation. It taught me how to sharpen independent judgement and the anguish of blind loyalty. When I know something is wrong, I should assert the right which I believe is something that I lacked because I am either too forgiving or too afraid to stand against the many. We should never compromise respect for the sake of expediency. I also learned the necessity of disagreement. We all disagree but we should not go personal about it. I also felt sick and tired about being left out by important matters of government which eventually opened my heart to one side of the rift. I also understood that the most disabling feeling of any student leader is that feeling of being held hostage by one’s own expectations and also by the unaccounted expectations of others. The best way to combat this is to have a clear plan you are confident about which comes from the sound opinion from the students. I am not bitter at all; I embrace all of these as great experiences fertile for growth and maturity. I treat myself very blessed for having experienced the roller coaster life of governance and politics. I am happy that even though a cloud of animosity hovers over us, we still share the solidarity we shaped as a group of students who sacrificed to serve others. This is the common purpose that binds us above personal and ideological differences.

This is my note to future leaders. Always invest in relationships. And measure your success on quantifiable indicators, not on gut feeling and emotions. Govern with greater responsibility and common sense.

Being NSTP Class Facilitator

My stint as the class facilitator of the CWTS L class known as “The Leadership Formation Class” together with Crystal (BSAC II) had a tremendous force of impact that has somehow reshaped how I see people and authority. I guess this has something to do with having the responsibility to live out what you teach in the NSTP class, having the responsibility to shepherd people, and having that unique opportunity to form others. I believe this three best capture the thoughts that stirred me during the duration of my facilitation. I hope to give out a message to those who are interested in being a KKP volunteer and specifically a NSTP Class facilitator. This is not an easy task because it entails tremendous amounts of patience, large amounts of energy to wake up before 7:00 am, and a sort of “pleasing personality” which I guess could be learned. Equally important are skills such as communicating, organizing, and synthesizing. But the whole beauty of the experience is that you can learn all of these things one moment at a time. Sort of a on the job training but don’t worry, KKP provides skills development workshop before the start of the year. Anyhow, back to the meat. The experience taught me about credibility. The idea that you do what you speak. This is a great challenge for me because I often times forget what I say and do things contrary to what I say. One good example is being generous and sensitive. I feel ashamed knowing I haven’t done much to those beggars who come begging me for money or food, or to the lines of under aged prostitutes lining across the street from my house. And this really led me to question my own sincerity up to this point. I am just being frank and honest. As fallible as I am, I am challenged to continuously recheck my values and to continuously explore ways where I could do something starting in my own home. Second is the chance to shepherd and form people. To me, this is the most rewarding experience. I was given the right environment to diffuse my insights and by sheer osmosis, I hope to contaminate them with that itch to get involved. And this also bears a great amount of responsibility and of course, credibility. It is all connected. In sum, beyond the satisfying feeling of control and influence, the best part of being an NSTP facilitator regardless of what kind of class it is, is to see your students unfold before you, to see your students realize that they themselves have the power to change things. Just give them the right tools and the correct reason to believe.