Empty seats, full plate

The University Student Council (USC) serves as a cornerstone of student governance, leading university-wide campaigns, initiatives and organizing campus events. 

But in a historic twist, the chairperson, vice chairperson, and councilor seats were left vacant after the abstain vote won in the May 2024 elections. 

This is the challenge that the UP Diliman’s USC faces as it navigates an unprecedented power vacuum.

A small group of 13 college representatives is now tasked with leading an understaffed council, maintaining order as they await the outcome of this year’s special elections—a process that will shape the USC’s fate for the remainder of the academic year.

Disbelief over election results last May was palpable, especially for the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy (CSSP) Representative Pia Cruz, who held her breath while awaiting the announcement along with countless others.

“You could tell from the crowd of students who gathered to listen to the results that everyone was surprised,” she said. “No one knew how to approach it or how to tackle what a USC without standard-bearers and councilors would even look like.”

Only six college representatives were initially proclaimed to the council, placing them in a difficult position due to the absence of key USC officers.

The magnitude of their responsibility as college reps began to sink in as Cruz recounted a meeting with the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and the Coordinator of the Office of Student Projects and Activities.

“Essentially, the administration was asking us what we were going to do. As six college reps, that’s a very scary thing, because you’d expect the admin to know what to do [instead],” she said.

With no clear leaders and no playbook for the situation, the remaining representatives were thrust into new roles, now responsible for addressing broader collective concerns.

Cruz mentioned that, for a while, they had only been involved in their local councils. “[W]e realized that there was no student council looking at things at the university level, so we had to step up,” she said. 

As elected student leaders, Cruz and the college representatives have no choice but to keep things moving in the council. However, Cruz shared that the process was far from smooth. 

She said that whenever they meet as college representatives, there is an understanding that everyone is on equal footing, with no one able to assert dominance over the others. Discussions lack direction and focus, without the officers designated to set points of order and establish agendas.

All representatives would need to gather their positions on internal matters before arriving at a final decision, which became one of their biggest hurdles since not everyone was always available to make their positions clear.

“[W]e didn’t have the power to instigate or operate on a university-wide level, because in the first place, we were only there to represent our college, and we were all busy with our own colleges,” College of Business Administration (CBA) representative Rus Ilumin shared. “That was our priority, given the structure of the USC.”

The representatives have been managing essential USC tasks alongside those in their respective colleges, but the structural gap remains evident. 

Ilumin points out that major events like the UP College Admission Test (UPCAT) and University Freshie Month, which traditionally fall under USC’s jurisdiction, were significantly affected. 

Without a complete student council, it was harder for college representatives to effectively coordinate these university-wide initiatives.

Cruz also highlighted the ongoing challenges in planning other major projects, especially the UP Fair—a highly anticipated event that has raised concerns among many students because of a potential postponement. 

“Even as early as now, UP Fair preparations have to start, but again, since there are no university-wide officers to spearhead the planning for UP Fair, nothing is happening, unfortunately,” she said.

The lack of structure within the council posed doubts about its authority. 

Following local college elections and appointments since May, the council now has 13 representatives, with the most recent member officially joining in September. 

However, given the USC’s range of responsibilities, the scope of duties still outpaces the available manpower, particularly in supervising the team’s standing and special standing committees, a task usually handled by the standard-bearers.

To fill in vacancies at USC, the Office of Student Projects and Activities announced holding a special election. 

Cruz is optimistic about the potential of the upcoming elections to revitalize student engagement. 

“I hope that these candidates can show themselves as people the students can believe in and see themselves in. To a certain extent, that was the problem with the previous election cycle, where students were disenchanted with how politics were going,” Cruz said.

CBA representative Ilumin highlighted the importance of encouraging students to participate in the electoral process. 

“Right now as USC, we’re really trying our best to disseminate all information about the current candidates, encourage them to vote, and be informed on who they want to vote for by allowing them to support the different initiatives that we have,” Illumin said.

As they await the results of the special elections, the representatives remain hopeful that a fully functioning USC will soon be in place to address the university-wide concerns that have been sidelined for too long.