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Blue CoffeeLIBERTAS INAESTIMABILIS RES EST

February 7, 2014

To the Ateneo Student Body and its Leaders:

The Sanggunian ng Mga Paaralang Loyola, our student council, has been all too many times called

irrelevant. There is, among its constituents, an undeniable deficit of confidence in the San ggunian. It

appears to some of us that the body exists only for its own sake and of those who run it.

We are called upon to elect those who will run the Sanggunian. Despite the supposed irrelevance of

the organization, we ought to consider the benefits of having a student council, or at least the harm in not

having one. Student representation is a necessity. That the Sanggunian has been mobilizing programs in

disaster response and social awareness ought to be sufficient reason to justify its existence.

Nevertheless, the Sanggunian cannot remain in its rather disadvantaged state forever. A crisis ofconfidence in an organization is the unmistakable symptom of ills within the system that ought to be

corrected. One also has to inquire as to why, despite its efforts to reach out to its constituency, many still

deem the Sanggunian irrelevant.

It is not this writers purpose to ask Sanggunian existential questions. This letter instead aims to

expound on the commonsensical.

First, the Sanggunian operates using funds generated from student fees. That being so, any financial

indiscretion is a betrayal of the student bodys trust. Any amount of fiscal waste should be taken as offensive

to its constituents. Any form of excessive spending should be reduced, if it could not be eliminated

altogether.

We are for instance, against its planning seminars. While we recognize the importance of planning,

we could not understand why it is necessary to spend for planning activities, when supposedly, people elected

and appointed to their positions have at least some idea of what their visions for their units and organizations

are. We could not understand why it is necessary for the Sanggunian to conduct planning seminars when it

could organize formal planning meetings, or could at least require its officers and appointees to submit their

plans for deliberation. Planning seminars being held outside the Sanggunians regular sessions raises suspicion

that the events are little more than excursions or recreation for the officers. The failure of this writer to

understand the necessity for planning seminars may be due to any of the following reasons: this writers

ignorance of the Sanggunians complex operations(a language only understood perhaps by the insider caste),

this writers particular aversion to elected officials receiving free items and benefits, or that planning seminars

are less of a necessity and more of a caprice. I suspect the last among the three is the most plausible.

It is also my desire to caution the Sanggunian against overreaching. Seeking relevance among its

constituents makes the Sanggunian especially prone to overreaching. We are particularly against the

Sanggunian unilaterally performing certain functions that are already within the core competencies of other

school organizations. Instead, we ask that the Sanggunian support the existing programs and projects of

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Blue Coffee is an informal group of Ateneans who seek to promote the cause of solidarity, subsidiarity,

liberty, and fiscal responsibility.

organizations. We ask this of the Sanggunian, in the spirit of subsidiarity and solidarity. It must avoid any

unsolicited interference in the affairs of the organizations, and must make sure as well that it does not hinder

the organizations from performing their functions.

It is also my design to suggest that the Sanggunian explore the possibility of reducing its size. I would

like to suggest that it form a task force that would recommend ways to reduce financial wastage. For instance,I am particularly unconvinced that the Sanggunian has to maintain a Department of Student Leadership and

Development, as well as a Department of Research and Statistics, when it could request such organizations as

the Ateneo Code and A-Stat to perform the competencies of the said departments. It could assign

coordinators for certain functions, liaisons to the organizations. But by all means the Sanggunian should

avoid creating and maintaining units whose functions could otherwise be performed by other student

organizations.

Outsourcing has been a proven means of cutting costs without reducing efficiency. The Sanggunian

should outsource services whenever possible. This practice would not only save the Sanggunian money. It

would also support the causes of other student organizations that will perform the services. This proposition

echoes the earlier call for subsidiarity.

The Sanggunian is not obliged to follow the more particular propositions. But it is my strong

conviction that establishing a task force empowered to investigate financial and logistical wastage and

recommend urgent reforms is not a mere option but a necessity.

All these prescriptions are of a fiscal nature. Without doubt, fiscal responsibility is not optional. It is

obligatory, a natural duty arising from the fact that the Sanggunian has been entrusted with powers by the

student body. It is nonetheless necessary to argue for other reforms that will complement the institution of

certain fiscal remedies. For example, the advantages of instituting such offices as that of an Ombudsman and

for Budget Management ought to be discussed. In light of recent events such as the failure of elections and

the impeachment proceedings, it should also be in the Sanggunians best interest to explore the possibility of

instituting structural and constitutional reforms. These matters, I shall endeavour to write about in succeeding

letters. I should mention that this letter is the second of a series of letters to be written by me and my friends,

comrades in the cause of pushing for reforms within and for the Sanggunian.

I sincerely wish the Sanggunian all the best, and I express my desire that the student body and the

Sanggunian may clearly see that the intention to write this letter arises out of a genuine sympathy for the

many officials and followers of the Sanggunian who seek to promote the interests of the student body and of

the nation down the hill. I remain,

Sincerely yours,

CHRISTIAN I. DY

I- AB Economics Honors