by Michael Fong
Why did you run and what compelled you to run?
At first, I was hesitant to run. But I know deep inside gusto ko talagang tumulong, [as early as] first week of classes palang. Now, I think I’m destined to run. For me, service is my passion. Ever since grade school up to college, I’ve been in the student council. I think I have that potential to serve people out of goodwill and not dahil gusto kong magkaroon ng extracurricular activities. It’s natural and people see the potential in me. I don’t want these people na manghinayang dahil maraming nagsasabing kaya mo naman iyan and they see me at that position and that I can deliver.
Why treasurer? Why that particular position?
Honestly, my first option was to do externals as I have not been exposures to that work [before]. I’ve been batch vice president, treasurer, but I want to venture out into other opportunities so before, I chose Externals. However, a friend is running also and he really likes the position so I gave him that position. And with my experience as treasurer, from high school up to the finance committee of the [school] Christmas party, I guess this job is really meant for me.
Could you please explain to us the differences between the treasurer, auditor, and finance committee head?
I think it’s more of coordinating with each other. They’re all concerned with finance. Of course, being the treasurer as the head, and then the auditor and then the finance committee [head] as someone to over see kung tama ba ang ginagawa ng treasurer. “With handling money, it’s not just a one-man job.” Hindi puwedeng isang tao lang ang nakakaalam ng finances. When you do balances and checking of accounts, there will come a point in time where kahit ikaw ang magaling doon, may maooverlook ka at mapapasabing “Ah, may mali ako.” I guess that’s where the job of the auditor and the finance committee goes in. With regard to decision making, it would be the treasurer’s job. With the projects, yung treasurer, kahit na may project siya, I think it’s best kung idedelegate niya iyon with the finance committee because mobilizing people – doon talaga makikita ang effect talaga. Kung nadedeliver mo ba talaga ang project mo. Kung ikaw lang ang gagawa ng lahat ng job, it’s a burden to you, tapos ang people mo hindi mo nagagamit, walang great impact ang pinropovide mo.
What do you think is the most pressing problem that the student council needs to address next year?
Student apathy. Comparing St. Luke’s with other med schools, we know that we have the smallest population. With student apathy, I don’t see most of the students participating in the activities, even sa school mismo. Kung may friend ka sa student council or napressure ka lang ng friend mo na umattend ng activity, dun ka lang aattend. With regard to voicing out of opinions of students, given the opportunities for us to compete in different competitions, like Palarong Med, minsan napapatawa nlng friends mo. “Ikaw na ang kumanta, ikaw na rin ang sumayaw.” It’s always the same people. I think that the best for next year is to reach out to people. Siguro nahihiya lang sila or naiisip nila na Med School na. If we reach out to them and say kaya mo naman iyan, it’s just time management, then mas maganda kung maencourage natin.
In relation to that, what do you think would be the things you want to improve from last year?
With regard to treasurer, this year ang nakikita ko lang naman na problema ay parang walang fixed system on how they allocate finances and walang concrete plans on fundraising activities. I’m not saying na problema siya ng mga officers or something. I do understand that may mga times talaga na may lilitaw na kailangan natin ng money for this. Ang nilagay ko sa plan ko is to have this contingency fund. At the start of the year, we can do fundraising as soon as possible. Yun din ang napansin namin when we did the fundraising for the Christmas party. We started late. We were left wondering how we can make that much money. If only we started early, then maybe marami pa kaming naprovide for the students. Same with the student council like sa MGMR, Palarong Med, I think they can provide better financing support If they started early. So yung fundraising nila, nakastreamline na. Probably every block they have that one fundraising and not just solely base on all their fundraising on just one fundraising alone. We’re not sure if it’ll meet the target. Multiple activities, multiple involvement. So dun maeencourage mga students.
With general problem regarding student apathy, it comes with the people encouraging the students. If we show them ano exactly iproprovide natin with activities, how will they benefit from it, I think maeencourage silang sumali. If we only target the same people with these activities, then it’s just a [single] community of people being involved in the projects and not the entire community of St. Luke’s. We want holistic growth in medical school. Sabi nga natin dito sa St. Luke’s, it’s not just about academics or research, we want to venture out into chorale, singing, dancing, even sports.
Why did you run and what compelled you to run?
At first, I was hesitant to run. But I know deep inside gusto ko talagang tumulong, [as early as] first week of classes palang. Now, I think I’m destined to run. For me, service is my passion. Ever since grade school up to college, I’ve been in the student council. I think I have that potential to serve people out of goodwill and not dahil gusto kong magkaroon ng extracurricular activities. It’s natural and people see the potential in me. I don’t want these people na manghinayang dahil maraming nagsasabing kaya mo naman iyan and they see me at that position and that I can deliver.
Why treasurer? Why that particular position?
Honestly, my first option was to do externals as I have not been exposures to that work [before]. I’ve been batch vice president, treasurer, but I want to venture out into other opportunities so before, I chose Externals. However, a friend is running also and he really likes the position so I gave him that position. And with my experience as treasurer, from high school up to the finance committee of the [school] Christmas party, I guess this job is really meant for me.
Could you please explain to us the differences between the treasurer, auditor, and finance committee head?
I think it’s more of coordinating with each other. They’re all concerned with finance. Of course, being the treasurer as the head, and then the auditor and then the finance committee [head] as someone to over see kung tama ba ang ginagawa ng treasurer. “With handling money, it’s not just a one-man job.” Hindi puwedeng isang tao lang ang nakakaalam ng finances. When you do balances and checking of accounts, there will come a point in time where kahit ikaw ang magaling doon, may maooverlook ka at mapapasabing “Ah, may mali ako.” I guess that’s where the job of the auditor and the finance committee goes in. With regard to decision making, it would be the treasurer’s job. With the projects, yung treasurer, kahit na may project siya, I think it’s best kung idedelegate niya iyon with the finance committee because mobilizing people – doon talaga makikita ang effect talaga. Kung nadedeliver mo ba talaga ang project mo. Kung ikaw lang ang gagawa ng lahat ng job, it’s a burden to you, tapos ang people mo hindi mo nagagamit, walang great impact ang pinropovide mo.
What do you think is the most pressing problem that the student council needs to address next year?
Student apathy. Comparing St. Luke’s with other med schools, we know that we have the smallest population. With student apathy, I don’t see most of the students participating in the activities, even sa school mismo. Kung may friend ka sa student council or napressure ka lang ng friend mo na umattend ng activity, dun ka lang aattend. With regard to voicing out of opinions of students, given the opportunities for us to compete in different competitions, like Palarong Med, minsan napapatawa nlng friends mo. “Ikaw na ang kumanta, ikaw na rin ang sumayaw.” It’s always the same people. I think that the best for next year is to reach out to people. Siguro nahihiya lang sila or naiisip nila na Med School na. If we reach out to them and say kaya mo naman iyan, it’s just time management, then mas maganda kung maencourage natin.
In relation to that, what do you think would be the things you want to improve from last year?
With regard to treasurer, this year ang nakikita ko lang naman na problema ay parang walang fixed system on how they allocate finances and walang concrete plans on fundraising activities. I’m not saying na problema siya ng mga officers or something. I do understand that may mga times talaga na may lilitaw na kailangan natin ng money for this. Ang nilagay ko sa plan ko is to have this contingency fund. At the start of the year, we can do fundraising as soon as possible. Yun din ang napansin namin when we did the fundraising for the Christmas party. We started late. We were left wondering how we can make that much money. If only we started early, then maybe marami pa kaming naprovide for the students. Same with the student council like sa MGMR, Palarong Med, I think they can provide better financing support If they started early. So yung fundraising nila, nakastreamline na. Probably every block they have that one fundraising and not just solely base on all their fundraising on just one fundraising alone. We’re not sure if it’ll meet the target. Multiple activities, multiple involvement. So dun maeencourage mga students.
With general problem regarding student apathy, it comes with the people encouraging the students. If we show them ano exactly iproprovide natin with activities, how will they benefit from it, I think maeencourage silang sumali. If we only target the same people with these activities, then it’s just a [single] community of people being involved in the projects and not the entire community of St. Luke’s. We want holistic growth in medical school. Sabi nga natin dito sa St. Luke’s, it’s not just about academics or research, we want to venture out into chorale, singing, dancing, even sports.
What are the concrete measures and projects you will make that will define your term in office?
May kodiks ako para diyan. Yung nakapost dun (laughs)!
First is the transparency and accountability. I think it’s the job of every officer, not just the treasurer, the auditor, or the finance committee. Transparency and accountability goes a long way. Transparency because in everything that we do, being the officers, you know the whole plan. But the student body they only feel it and try to see what you are trying to point out in your project. In terms of finances, siyempre mapapatanong ka nalang: Saan ba naounta ang mga kinollect ng SC na 60 pesos? Parang ganoon. It may be a small amount but it’s still money. Money easily comes and goes. With regard to accountability, I’m not sure how the financing works here in St. Luke’s. However, based on my previous experiences, we do have this system of PRS wherein each organization or members of the student council, if you want to run an activity, you have to run a project proposal that will be approved by the whole student council. Of course with finances, hindi ka laging pwedeng mag-approve ng projects. We have to look it up: ano ba ang pros and cons? Ito ang plano mong budget. Can you lower that budget? Para naman mamaximize mo ang finances na mayroon ka. In the long run, if you have something na matitira, maybe we can put up a beneficiary at the end of the school year. Or we can store this as money as contingency or calamity funds. Just in case may mangyari na kunwari Ondoy ulit, we don’t have to sacrifice our activities like yung Christmas party because we have this contingency to support. Siyempre we’ll partially sacrifice the activity but hindi totally mawawala ang plan. It’s a plan and we have to carry out our plans.
I’m not sure if this is possible but I’m thinking of low tuition fee increase. Naannounce sa class naming that there will be an administrative meeting for tuition fee increase this year but we are not given of the details on what the increase is for. I’m pushing for every school year the second sem to have an open forum for the students to know bakit ba magtataas ng tuition fee. Ano ang breakdown of these fees? Necessary ba ang mga miscellaneous fees na ito? I found out when I enrolled this year, we have the internet fee and yet we don’t have that facility. As a student, it is our right that for every peso we pay, we get what we deserve. I think good involvement for the students because they can voice out their opinion. They can say that our projectors are old already. Maybe we can change the microphone. Kung magkakaroon man ng tuition fee increase, instead of putting them into something not necessary, we can include them into something that may be used in the long run.
Last is the year-long fundraising. At the start of the year pa lang, nakaplan out na. Each block, we have this fundraising activity. We know that there are some students who set-up their own business. Maybe we can tie up with them. That’s another way to encourage students to participate. Sila mismo ang magbebenta and we get a share from them. It’s going to be a win-win situation. You get the funds needed and you involve the students.
Maybe we can go a little more in depth for some of your projects. For the low tuition fee increase, to clarify, are you promising that the tuition fee will be lower?
I’m not sure of how students can voice out their opinions to the administration. During our undergrad, students are free to voice out their opinions in a forum and the student council can address those concerns to the administration. In that way, kahit wala ka sa [tuition fee increase] meeting, you can voice out your opinions. We currently don’t have this feedback system for the students. With this [project], proper representation may be met. But I’m not promising low tuition. But I think the project will serve as a good venue for students to give their opinion.
May kodiks ako para diyan. Yung nakapost dun (laughs)!
First is the transparency and accountability. I think it’s the job of every officer, not just the treasurer, the auditor, or the finance committee. Transparency and accountability goes a long way. Transparency because in everything that we do, being the officers, you know the whole plan. But the student body they only feel it and try to see what you are trying to point out in your project. In terms of finances, siyempre mapapatanong ka nalang: Saan ba naounta ang mga kinollect ng SC na 60 pesos? Parang ganoon. It may be a small amount but it’s still money. Money easily comes and goes. With regard to accountability, I’m not sure how the financing works here in St. Luke’s. However, based on my previous experiences, we do have this system of PRS wherein each organization or members of the student council, if you want to run an activity, you have to run a project proposal that will be approved by the whole student council. Of course with finances, hindi ka laging pwedeng mag-approve ng projects. We have to look it up: ano ba ang pros and cons? Ito ang plano mong budget. Can you lower that budget? Para naman mamaximize mo ang finances na mayroon ka. In the long run, if you have something na matitira, maybe we can put up a beneficiary at the end of the school year. Or we can store this as money as contingency or calamity funds. Just in case may mangyari na kunwari Ondoy ulit, we don’t have to sacrifice our activities like yung Christmas party because we have this contingency to support. Siyempre we’ll partially sacrifice the activity but hindi totally mawawala ang plan. It’s a plan and we have to carry out our plans.
I’m not sure if this is possible but I’m thinking of low tuition fee increase. Naannounce sa class naming that there will be an administrative meeting for tuition fee increase this year but we are not given of the details on what the increase is for. I’m pushing for every school year the second sem to have an open forum for the students to know bakit ba magtataas ng tuition fee. Ano ang breakdown of these fees? Necessary ba ang mga miscellaneous fees na ito? I found out when I enrolled this year, we have the internet fee and yet we don’t have that facility. As a student, it is our right that for every peso we pay, we get what we deserve. I think good involvement for the students because they can voice out their opinion. They can say that our projectors are old already. Maybe we can change the microphone. Kung magkakaroon man ng tuition fee increase, instead of putting them into something not necessary, we can include them into something that may be used in the long run.
Last is the year-long fundraising. At the start of the year pa lang, nakaplan out na. Each block, we have this fundraising activity. We know that there are some students who set-up their own business. Maybe we can tie up with them. That’s another way to encourage students to participate. Sila mismo ang magbebenta and we get a share from them. It’s going to be a win-win situation. You get the funds needed and you involve the students.
Maybe we can go a little more in depth for some of your projects. For the low tuition fee increase, to clarify, are you promising that the tuition fee will be lower?
I’m not sure of how students can voice out their opinions to the administration. During our undergrad, students are free to voice out their opinions in a forum and the student council can address those concerns to the administration. In that way, kahit wala ka sa [tuition fee increase] meeting, you can voice out your opinions. We currently don’t have this feedback system for the students. With this [project], proper representation may be met. But I’m not promising low tuition. But I think the project will serve as a good venue for students to give their opinion.
I think the consultation meeting on tuition fee increase is something done yearly. If I’m not mistaken, the student council, class president, and two class officers per batch are invited. What was particular about last year is that the student council was able to persuade the admin to open up the meeting to the entire student body. Are you also open to the idea?
I think that’s good. If that’s going to happen, hindi lang kailangang isang tao ang magrerepresent. If you can encourage more people to go, the better. I’m not sure if the admin will find it to be chaotic if everyone goes. With the open forum, you can represent the student body.
Regarding the medstudent biz, one of the biggest issues every year is unnecessary competition with the school Christmas party. How do you think you can address that?
Actually, nagging issue talaga iyan. If the student council can come up with an earlier plan for fundraising, they can let the first years see that there is already a streamlined list of activities. If the first years decide to do the same, they can tie-up. But only during the early part and not yung biglaan lang. If we coordinated with the finance committee of the first year with our activities, if they want to tie up, we can plan it earlier. When we carry out these activities, it will be ok for both parties.
Will you be doing the same thing for the other orgs as well?
For other orgs, they have these specific fundraising activities that won’t cross the boundary of the student council. The student council sells merchandise related to St. Luke’s College of Medicine. Other orgs such as Sagip, they sell gloves and dissections kits. For Agape’s Love Express, hindi na siya sakop ng student council. For transparency, at the start of the school year we can give a streamlined list of activities so that everyone can see what is in line for the shcoolyear. By involving other organizations, we will be targeting more people as well.
What would you do if you don’t win the elections?
If I don’t win the elections, it’s fine with me. If I don’t win, I will still be there to deliver under the finance committee and share my potential. It’s not about the position. It’s about how you deliver.
Being a leader takes its toll on people. You may have to sacrifice part of your academics. Are you ready to face that? Despite of the scholarship? How exactly?
Before I even decided to run, pinag-isipan ko na iyan. It’s really part of the job to juggle your academics and being part of the student council. Siyempre, there will be compromises. You already have compromises with your family. Now that you’ll be part of the student council, makikipag-agawan pa siya sa academics. If I’m willing to sacrifice [my academics]? Compromise yes. Sacrifice no. They’re different. If you sacrifice your acads, why did you enter med school in the first place? It’s to study. It’s all for academics. How do you manage? I think time management is the key. I’m really an OC person. The way I cope up with stress is by planning ahead of time. This is to prevent added stress. As for scholarship, we don’t know what to expect. There are many factors and I don’t think it will be the student council that will be the reason if I lose the scholarship.
To close this interview, what is your final word or statement?
If ever I become part of the student council next school year, I think it is a privilege not only for me but also for those who believe in me. I can be in this position because I deserve to be in this position and I can deliver. I cannot promise everything that I have in plan, that I’ll be able to carry them out. But as I stated in the [candidate’s] paper, it’s more of working with other people. It’s not just about you. Improvement does not come from yourself alone, but with other people.
I think that’s good. If that’s going to happen, hindi lang kailangang isang tao ang magrerepresent. If you can encourage more people to go, the better. I’m not sure if the admin will find it to be chaotic if everyone goes. With the open forum, you can represent the student body.
Regarding the medstudent biz, one of the biggest issues every year is unnecessary competition with the school Christmas party. How do you think you can address that?
Actually, nagging issue talaga iyan. If the student council can come up with an earlier plan for fundraising, they can let the first years see that there is already a streamlined list of activities. If the first years decide to do the same, they can tie-up. But only during the early part and not yung biglaan lang. If we coordinated with the finance committee of the first year with our activities, if they want to tie up, we can plan it earlier. When we carry out these activities, it will be ok for both parties.
Will you be doing the same thing for the other orgs as well?
For other orgs, they have these specific fundraising activities that won’t cross the boundary of the student council. The student council sells merchandise related to St. Luke’s College of Medicine. Other orgs such as Sagip, they sell gloves and dissections kits. For Agape’s Love Express, hindi na siya sakop ng student council. For transparency, at the start of the school year we can give a streamlined list of activities so that everyone can see what is in line for the shcoolyear. By involving other organizations, we will be targeting more people as well.
What would you do if you don’t win the elections?
If I don’t win the elections, it’s fine with me. If I don’t win, I will still be there to deliver under the finance committee and share my potential. It’s not about the position. It’s about how you deliver.
Being a leader takes its toll on people. You may have to sacrifice part of your academics. Are you ready to face that? Despite of the scholarship? How exactly?
Before I even decided to run, pinag-isipan ko na iyan. It’s really part of the job to juggle your academics and being part of the student council. Siyempre, there will be compromises. You already have compromises with your family. Now that you’ll be part of the student council, makikipag-agawan pa siya sa academics. If I’m willing to sacrifice [my academics]? Compromise yes. Sacrifice no. They’re different. If you sacrifice your acads, why did you enter med school in the first place? It’s to study. It’s all for academics. How do you manage? I think time management is the key. I’m really an OC person. The way I cope up with stress is by planning ahead of time. This is to prevent added stress. As for scholarship, we don’t know what to expect. There are many factors and I don’t think it will be the student council that will be the reason if I lose the scholarship.
To close this interview, what is your final word or statement?
If ever I become part of the student council next school year, I think it is a privilege not only for me but also for those who believe in me. I can be in this position because I deserve to be in this position and I can deliver. I cannot promise everything that I have in plan, that I’ll be able to carry them out. But as I stated in the [candidate’s] paper, it’s more of working with other people. It’s not just about you. Improvement does not come from yourself alone, but with other people.