BulSUans stuck in a cliché political plot
The Communiqué
April 09, 2025
Every year, BulSUans are tasked to make the hardest decision to make — voting for their chosen student leaders who will champion their ideologies and fight for their rights. It all sounds good on paper, a university embodying the democratic principles it hopes to instill in its students.
Yet alas, the reality is much dimmer than the idealistic liberal utopia everyone is led to believe. Behind the colorful placards and well-rehearsed speeches lies a symptom of a deeply flawed system. One where student elections devolve into shameless party warfare, moral grandstanding, and an echo chamber of empty rhetoric. When they say that universities are the microcosm of society, BulSU’s election culture proves just how true that statement is by being an eerily similar reflection of the worst aspects of national politics.
Cyclic nature of summertime politicians
Like clockwork, the two dominant parties in BulSU will stay dormant for most of the year, excluding a few token events to maintain visibility, only to spring into action once election season arrives. Of course, this is an oversimplification of their delicate practices that stay hidden most of the time. That in and of itself is problematic and hinders the cultivation of the political identities of the students. The system is flawed to begin with and is made worse by the endless mudslinging and terribly late call-outs for issues that should have been addressed long before.
Rather than using platforms to foster engagement and discussions among students, this system that they are delightfully taking part in alienates their target and undermines the whole electoral process. Instead of a dynamic political discourse where policies and disputes are addressed immediately, parties and rumor pages that appear out of nowhere hoard issues and wait for the perfect time to unleash all of it in one go.
Genuine discourse is drowned out by fake outrage and confusing narratives, optics are prioritized over substance, and real issues are weaponized to discredit one another. As a result, despite efforts to emphasize the importance of elections — which are undeniably significant — the backlash leaves many students, the very group they claim to represent, feeling overlooked and left behind.
According to the University Commission on Student Elections (UCSE), the election turnout in 2024 was only 58%, embarrassing for a university that prides itself on its liberal values and commitment to student representation. The dismal number is not just a mere statistic; it’s a numerical representation of how much the students actually care. It’s a failure on all fronts and shows that the current system doesn’t inspire real engagement when it’s just a predictable pattern of events that will not change anytime soon.
For those that voted, the most glaring similarity to national politics is observed here. The student’s thought process when it comes to choosing their favored candidate is often based on a criteria — experience, achievements, and body of work. However, due to the increasing gap created by partisanship, these qualifications are often overshadowed by party loyalty and narratives surrounding each candidate.
Familiar political scheme
In the current status of the Philippines, it is undeniable that the political leanings and identity of the people were prone to be conditioned to view the elections as a “me vs. them” event. Ultimately, the potential reason for choosing a candidate appears to be driven more by the desire for rejection of the other side than by genuine support of values.
Although not as extreme in the context of BulSU, the familiar fracture in the student body hurts the democratic process even without the severe clashing political ideologies that their national counterparts have.
Without the deep ideological divide, some may argue that it’s better because the voters know that their platforms, albeit anemic, will still cater to them. However, this lack of ideological contrast does not translate to a more functional or representative system. Not when the candidates and the party machinations behind them are offering the students nearly identical platforms. As a result, university politics becomes a matter of branding, appeal, and personal narratives over real political discourse.
Beyond their plastered smiles and the sing-song speeches they make in every campaign, there is no real way for students to truly assess the right leader for them.
Even if debates exist to supposedly show more of what these candidates can do, it’s all meaningless when even no-shows can still get the highest seat in the house, just like in national politics. What’s worse is that it sometimes exposes the deficiencies of candidates, leading people to wonder about their capabilities to be elected to the position in the first place.
When art imitates life or in this case, when campus politics imitates the circus of national elections, it begs the question that if not for the banners, the campaign speeches, and the homogenous empty platforms, would there be anything of substance left?
Symptoms of polarization and the illusion of choice
Just like in the larger political landscape, the current dilemma that the student body is facing is an extension of the greater issue of polarization in Philippine society. Even with the introduction of a multiparty system in this year’s election, nothing changed, as only two political parties were accredited — the same two camps locked in a cycle of rivalry that has long defined BulSU politics.
This setup fuels further polarization by creating a false sense of choice, where some students are pressured to align with one side or the other. With little room for genuine alternatives, many are left with only two options: to abstain from voting altogether or to settle for a candidate, not out of conviction, but out of the sheer need to elect someone.
It’s a shame because students and the youth in general have shown us, since time immemorial, that they are forward and progressive thinkers with enough power to change the status quo. Even if the student government structure is modeled after the national one, it should not mean that it has to inherit its worst traits.
But that is the political game in a nutshell, no matter how good your intentions are, the system will always catch up to you. There might be outliers here and there, but they are buried the moment they attempt to challenge the status quo.
Paradigm Shift: Redefining student elections
At the end of the day, this dilemma is not unique to BulSU. It’s an overarching issue that affects all institutions where the same problems are observed. Fortunately, cultivating a healthy election culture is not out of the realm of possibilities for universities. It starts with the students waking up and challenging the status quo, refusing to accept performative politics as the norm. Then and only then will we start to see change, no matter how small.
The burden of upholding what is rightful in the 2025 Student Government Elections lies not just for the candidates and parties who are just mere products of the system, but for the student body itself.
More than just choosing the best candidate to lead, a shift in voter attitudes is essential to revitalizing a robust political culture in BulSU. Given our messy political climate, it’s crucial for the students to break free from the repetitive cycles of national politics and build upon the culture of genuine public service and accountability.
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