By Cheeno Luang
(Vol. XXVII No. 28, Editorial Cartoon)
The recently concluded Student Government of Dumaguete City (SGDC) I and II national and local elections have demonstrated the indifference of the majority of Norsunians to select their leaders. The votes for every candidate in different positions were tallied and elected officials were already announced. But, the bigger number of Negros Oriental State University (NORSU) student population in SGDCI totally snubbed the polls.
Unlike SGDCII elections, SGDCI had registered a lower turnout of voters. MCI Committee on Elections (Comelec) results revealed that there was only 33.91 percent or 1,872 of the 5,522 SGDCI student population that have exercised their right of suffrage. Of the five colleges permitted to vote, the February 26 national and local polls became a subject of skepticism because most students just ignored the elections – if that was such.
One of the perennial problems of the SGDCI for so long a time now is the less participated, if not snubbed, elections - an election that is as silent as a desert, an election that never was. Most of the local elected officials were uncontested and if opposed, there were only two or three candidates that vied for the different electoral positions. However, for the SG topmost seats, there were two candidates for the presidency, while the vice-presidential position was uncontested.
More than that, the College of Nursing, Dentistry, Pharmacy, and Allied Health Sciences (CNDPAHS) had no candidates in any of the national and local electoral positions and in the end, have not cast their votes. According to Comelec, the students have no interest to join in student politics because most of them were concentrating in their studies.
Questions were raised if the information-dissemination campaign for the polls were done. But, Comelec claimed that they have done their part in circulating posters on bulletin boards of every college that contain information on the filing of candidacy and the date of the election. The commission cited in defense that most Norsunians just did not mind reading the announcement. The Comelec added that many students have no concern on exercising their right to vote.
On the other hand, there was an electoral forum conducted. It is aimed to educate students on the voting process and to know their bets more. But then again, it became an election campaign. Most of the candidates, as expected, laid their platforms and plans.
In such case, there were reasons why those things happened– reasons like no support from the faculty and staff, and even the candidates’ families. Subsequently, outgoing student-leaders have not come to think of leadership training to their probable successors. It just proposes that some of the incumbent officials have no concern to what will happen to the next administration. Others might also claim that they have done one, but the query remains – have they done it smoothly and honestly?
This only proves that Norsunians have no interest on SG matters and affairs. On the other side of the coin, most students just complain and only criticize the SG administration. But have they come to realize that they chose that student-leader? Or have they ever remembered to cast a vote? Realizations come in the end but the problem comes over and over again if students will not make a move by participating in SG elections.
CNDPAHS students might be busy with their studies but are the other colleges not? If a simple casting of vote becomes a problem in SGDC, how much more outside the school – the Philippine political battle? If students could not exercise their right of suffrage in NORSU, how could they ever go for the May 2010 polls?
Unlike SGDCII elections, SGDCI had registered a lower turnout of voters. MCI Committee on Elections (Comelec) results revealed that there was only 33.91 percent or 1,872 of the 5,522 SGDCI student population that have exercised their right of suffrage. Of the five colleges permitted to vote, the February 26 national and local polls became a subject of skepticism because most students just ignored the elections – if that was such.
One of the perennial problems of the SGDCI for so long a time now is the less participated, if not snubbed, elections - an election that is as silent as a desert, an election that never was. Most of the local elected officials were uncontested and if opposed, there were only two or three candidates that vied for the different electoral positions. However, for the SG topmost seats, there were two candidates for the presidency, while the vice-presidential position was uncontested.
More than that, the College of Nursing, Dentistry, Pharmacy, and Allied Health Sciences (CNDPAHS) had no candidates in any of the national and local electoral positions and in the end, have not cast their votes. According to Comelec, the students have no interest to join in student politics because most of them were concentrating in their studies.
Questions were raised if the information-dissemination campaign for the polls were done. But, Comelec claimed that they have done their part in circulating posters on bulletin boards of every college that contain information on the filing of candidacy and the date of the election. The commission cited in defense that most Norsunians just did not mind reading the announcement. The Comelec added that many students have no concern on exercising their right to vote.
On the other hand, there was an electoral forum conducted. It is aimed to educate students on the voting process and to know their bets more. But then again, it became an election campaign. Most of the candidates, as expected, laid their platforms and plans.
In such case, there were reasons why those things happened– reasons like no support from the faculty and staff, and even the candidates’ families. Subsequently, outgoing student-leaders have not come to think of leadership training to their probable successors. It just proposes that some of the incumbent officials have no concern to what will happen to the next administration. Others might also claim that they have done one, but the query remains – have they done it smoothly and honestly?
This only proves that Norsunians have no interest on SG matters and affairs. On the other side of the coin, most students just complain and only criticize the SG administration. But have they come to realize that they chose that student-leader? Or have they ever remembered to cast a vote? Realizations come in the end but the problem comes over and over again if students will not make a move by participating in SG elections.
CNDPAHS students might be busy with their studies but are the other colleges not? If a simple casting of vote becomes a problem in SGDC, how much more outside the school – the Philippine political battle? If students could not exercise their right of suffrage in NORSU, how could they ever go for the May 2010 polls?
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