27/08/2025
𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗦𝗦𝗚 𝗘𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀
For years, SSG elections at BSU were predictable. Candidates ran unopposed, winners were assured, and voting became little more than a formality. This year, that cycle breaks. Two parties now go head-to-head: Silaw, led by former Kinetika Governor Shania Wendy Balaki, and Tan-aw, led by former SSG Vice President for External Affairs Andree Jaime Abuan. For the first time in a long while, students face a real choice.
The Supreme Student Government is not symbolic. It represents students in the highest policy-making bodies of the university. It manages funds, shapes programs, and stands as the official voice when student rights are on the line. When the SSG is strong, students are protected. When it is weak, the student body carries the cost. Elections therefore cannot be reduced to mere procedure.
Uncontested polls in the past may have been easier to organize, but they stripped the process of meaning. Leaders rose without question. Platforms went unscrutinized. Students disengaged, as shown by the low turnout. Why bother voting when the result was predetermined?
Now the dynamic changes. For years, students have grown increasingly dissatisfied with the SSG, criticizing its limited visibility and questioning whether it truly advances student interests. That climate of discontent now confronts the incumbents and their allies, who must defend their record under sharper scrutiny. Their projects, leadership style, and promises will be tested against challengers who claim they can do better. This raises the bar. Elections are no longer ceremonial. They are contests of credibility. The question is no longer “Who will fill the seats?” but “Who can truly lead?”
The rivalry between Silaw and Tan-aw captures this shift. Silaw speaks of light, Tan-aw of vision, both symbols matter. Light reveals what is hidden, while vision directs where to go. Without light, we stumble in the dark. Without vision, we walk without direction. Students must now decide which force they believe can guide them forward—or if together, these names remind us of what leadership should embody: clarity and direction.
This is why competition matters. It forces leaders, whether re-electionists or newcomers, to prove themselves with ideas, not just positions. It gives students real power to weigh continuity against change, proven experience against new energy. More candidates mean sharper debates, closer scrutiny, and a stronger chance that student concerns will be addressed.
This election is more than filling positions. It is a test of leadership, of the future of student governance, and of what the student body values most. For the first time in years, BSU students will not simply inherit their leaders. They will choose them. And in choosing, they define not only who leads, but how.
✒: Justine Faye Asilo & Andrew G. Catayao III
🎨: Francheska Lauren M. Gonzales
