Lost momentum

Lasallians are not supportive of nation building projects worthy of recognition

such as the recently concluded Boto Lasalyano Sulong Pilipino 2010 (BLSP). Administrators willingly supported the project. It made the preparation for logistics and resources easy. The objective to move Lasallians to register for the next elections is noble and ambitious--but was

not fully achieved because of the modest support from the leadership sectors of the student community.

Although volunteers outside the SC were encouraged to participate, not enough reactions came from equally large sectors such as the CSO and COSCA. Though publicity was mediocre (i.e. email blasts), students should have at least have this sense of urgency to help in these kinds of

projects. It was after all an effort to fight the indifference of youth to participate in the democratic process of voting.

Political organizations should have participated in BLSP. The Political Science Society, Santugon, and more members from Tapat should have offered their help to facilitate or sponsor forums such as last month’s Kamalayan. As political organizations, their scope is not only limited to training leaders for the next elections. The cause of the project is even far more important than just preparing for the platforms of the candidates of the incoming General Elections (GE). Tapat

and Santugon should realize that their strength in numbers should not just be mobilized for a sweep of votes in the GE but also for a youth sweep of votes in the next national elections

While registration forms were given out in booths, it was heartwarming that many showed interest to register. There were also some students who shunned the offers of volunteers. If “di naman ako boboto” was one of the responses, another would be a wave of hand signaling

he or she is not interested. Others simply ignored the shouts of the volunteers. This is one of the indications that a portion of the Filipino youth is still cynical about the incoming electoral process. That they do not yet have a reason to vote despite the corruption cases that has been haunting

this generation. Student leaders should be more than concerned.

The BLSP project could have been more successful if teams were formed and necessary functions were assigned. SC President Nicole Villarojo led the project and only looked for team leaders to assign tasks just a few days before the actual event. This is because it was seen

as a small project. Villarojo eventually had to create teams because it got bigger due to interest of organizations outside school such as Youth Vote Philippines and Movement, Good Governance, and various media groups.

A publicity team could have been mobilized weeks before the event to ensure more people knew about the event. One of the downfalls of the project is its lack of visibility. The email blasts could

have been partnered with posters and tarpaulins around the campus. The booth along SJ walk could have been made more distinct with a tarp or poster indicating it was the BLSP booth. They could even try to persuade the publication to sponsor advocacy space in the monthly papers.

External publicity was crucial but was not given much attention.

A communication team was also not utilized. They can serve as the coordinating team who will talk to different organizations inside school to support the project. This team can approach professors and try to persuade them to announce the cause of the project in their classes. They can even give incentive to students who will be able to complete their registration. Moreover,

they could have approached different barangay officials near school so that the registration open to public could have gathered more registrants.

BLSP was very promising. We should actually commend the SC for undertaking such a project that aims to remind the youth of its proactive role in the next national elections. In the Kamalayan forum Why Vote?, it is not the student leaders who are going to decide why we

should. We have to discover it ourselves. It can be as simple as wanting pleasant roads to drive, cleaner air to breathe, or even safer streets to walk through. I can just hope that no one will choose to not vote because he or she has simply stopped to believe that the Philippines still has a

chance to attain good governance in the future. Unfortunately, the project lost some of its potential since only a small number was informed of its event. The cause, although noble, should not forget that it can only truly begin through proper information dissemination.