NEWS|Students' awareness on sociopolitical issues are very much vital—Atty. Aldeza

Students' awareness on sociopolitical issues are very much vital—Atty. Aldeza

Marielle Nacar Balgua

Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE) conducted an Abuse of State Resources (ASR) Training last September 17, 2022, at DSWD Area 1 Vocational and Rehabilitation Center (AVRC), Bonuan Binloc, Dagupan City.

LENTE is a nationwide, non-partisan network of lawyers, law students, paralegals, and trained volunteers committed to ensuring truthful elections for the good of the Filipino people.

Atty. Marisse Aldeza, one of the lawyers in LENTE and the project director of the ASR reform, said that this is a new concept as, in the past, there were no dedicated efforts to monitor instances of ASR in the country.

"Starting with this year's national election, LENTE, together with the Right to Know Right Now coalition spearheaded our respective ASR monitoring efforts to check the activities of candidates, especially with regard to their use of government resources for their own campaign, thereby creating an unfair advantage over their opponents and at the expense of taxpayers' money," Atty. Aldeza shared.

The ASR monitoring took place from March to June 2022, and the ASR Training started in August 2022. Having been asked about the goal of this training, Atty. Aldeza explained that it is to present the results of LENTE's ASR monitoring efforts to different Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and to create a community practice among them on how to effectively monitor ASR cases within the communities they belong to.

To date, they have had six trainings held in different cities in the Philippines, specifically in NCR, Puerto Princesa City, Iloilo City, Zamboanga City, Cotabato City, and Dagupan City.

LENTE invited trainees from their fellow election watchdog groups, faith-based organizations, school-based organizations, and other organizations involved in promoting good governance.

When asked about her viewpoint on students being more involved in trainings like this, Atty. Aldeza shares, "Students' awareness on sociopolitical issues are very much vital and hence, involvement of students in this type of training (i.e. ASR Monitoring) will not only increase students' awareness on the realities of politics but also how governance ultimately affects the lives of the Filipino people."

She also added that students who desire to run for Sangguniang Kabataan would be better equipped to perform their duties if they know the current state of public and civic affairs in their communities.

The President of LENTE - PHINMA-UPang Chapter, Ms. Ma. Geneva Arenas, said she has been with them since 2021. Ms. Arenas shared that through LENTE's leadership program, she became aware of the true significance of elections in the country.

"Sometimes we assume that nothing will alter and things will remain unchanged. Our nation will constantly struggle with challenges like corruption, poverty, fraud, and other economic problems, but I discovered there is always something you can do. You may make a difference for our nation by using your voice and by taking action to influence others", Ms. Arenas pointed out as she shared her learnings in the organization.

She also said that students are unaware that some are misusing and abusing our resources. With that, she believed that if students were more involved in these advocacies, they would want to take action by alerting the authorities to aid and stop ASR cases. In her words, "their voice[s] can inspire others to act, transform, and become better versions of themselves."

During the ASR Training, they had breakout sessions where the participants shared their understanding of the topic and why it has been a problem. In the end, a plenary discussion was opened to discuss instances of ASR post-elections.

Present in training were Lingayen Finest Eagles, Dagupan City Lions Club, Pangasinan People's Council, Kanlungan Center Foundation, DSWD-AVRC, LNU-ULNOS Student Publication, PHINMA - UPang-The Students' Herald, UdD, and DMMMSU.