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The Greater Half of the Struggle— Student Power Beyond Campus Elections
S T A N D – I I T Official Post Election Statement
March 2, 2010


"The purest expression of student power comes not only with the mere exercise of the right to vote. Rather it is measured in our effort to stand up for our rights and continue the struggle even beyond elections. The fight has just started."

We from the Student Alliance for the Advancement of Democratic Rights in MSU-IIT (STAND-IIT) extend our most heartfelt gratitude to all our candidates, volunteers, supporters and sympathizers who sacrificed time and effort to make the "Students’ Agenda" heard. We also thank all the students who voted for our candidates. Your vote has shown that we are now in a time of transition, when a significant part of the studentry has shifted its attention to a platform-based campus politics a far cry from the past few elections when voters’ awareness is indubitably low.

This year’s elections created a dual effect on the campus political environment. On one hand, through the efforts of STAND-IIT the students are becoming aware of their rights and welfare and are steadily being resolved that their role in building a pro-student campus environment is indispensable. On the other hand, STAND-IIT had the opportunity to improve its platforms, considering the demands of the students which we haven’t considered before, but which we learned in the course of the campaign.

This is in line with the general objective of the party, that is, to raise the students’ awareness on campus issues, where they are the main stakeholders. With this objective, the party has formed a concrete, pro-student platform which essentially stresses greater student participation in campus matters.

This year’s elections also added a long chapter to the book of the party’s and the students’ experience. It was a year of harassments, black propaganda, intimidation, misinformation, even character assassination.

It’s somehow safe and objective to say that this year’s election is one of the worst in MSU-IIT. We went through disqualification cases, where the contending parties and even the Department of Student Affairs(DSA) itself tried all means necessary to prevent Maria Isabel Macasieb to run for the presidency. We have surfaced out of this quagmire, but this hasn’t prevented the other parties from spreading misinformation on election day that Isabel really is disqualified, proving how desperate they were to prevent us from taking the KASAMA. We’ve had our share of black propaganda, ranging from leaflets aiming to destroy the integrity of STAND-IIT to malicious accusations that STAND-IIT has a low opinion of General Education students to utterly foolish rumors that Isabel paid the electric company so as to cause the blackout on the day of the miting de avance and names of our SCS candidates for Board Members delisted in the actual ballots without any prior notice or disqualification case filed. That is not to mention the several suspicious cases of possible fraud, including the voter’s list irregularity in the College of Education.



We have proven however that despite all desperate efforts by the contending parties and the administration itself to intimidate and incriminate STAND-IIT and its candidates, the party has remained firm and determined not to sacrifice the Students’ Agenda. STAND-IIT has put on a good fight. For the party, there is nothing to lose.

But we are yet to enter the greater half of our struggle. It was clear from the very start that the struggle we are engaged in goes even beyond election time. Beyond elections, there remains the task to continue forwarding our rights and welfare a task in which student participation is but vital. With this in mind, STAND-IIT vows to carry the voice of the students even beyond elections, win or lose.

To the future officers of the KASAMA, we extend this message: Stand always for the students’ welfare. Party differences should be overcome, in the premise that we are all bound to one basis of unity, that is, to serve the students.

STAND-IIT will continue its role as a vanguard party, always observant and active in asserting the realization of pro-student platforms.

The realization of these platforms however not lies in KASAMA’s or even STAND-IIT’s hands. Most importantly, we have to recognize that the students’ participation is most vital in this pursuit for student empowerment. STAND-IIT and the KASAMA will only serve as instruments to make the students heard. In the long run, the students will issue the verdict.

The coming school year comes with a greater challenge to the students to get involved in the struggle for a more humane university environment where students’ rights and welfare is respected and student participation is of primordial importance in policy-making.

All these will not come if we keep silent and inert.

STAND OUT! STAND UP! MAKE A STAND!