Piscatores

A University Debate was held at the Bulacan State University’s E-Library on April 17, 2024. There, the two parties of aspiring leaders introduce themselves and their plans to serve the BulSUans. The Katipunan Student Movement (KASAMA) and BulSUONE made their appearance at the event with their president, vice president, and senators. The opening speech was given by Amiel Antonio, the Editor-in-Chief of Pacesetter. It was then followed by the introduction of the candidates, starting with the senators, the vice president, and the president. However, senatorial candidates Rosenda “Dang” De Jesus of BulSUONE and Claire Ann “Clea" Nazario of KASAMA were not able to attend. The first segment of the event is the “Tugon,” wherein the president and vice-president of the parties were given 3 minutes to give their statement about the issues being presented on the screen. The first issue is about the poor conditions of old buildings and the establishment of new buildings, and the second issue is about authoritarianism and democracy within the context of the university. It was then followed by the second segment, “Tindig.” The senators gave their stand on a certain issue without any further explanations. Both parties were divided into two groups with three members. The first batch for this segment was Marvin “Marvin” Pagtalunan, Christian James “Chan” Sapitan, and Maria Francesca “Iska” Sale from KASAMA, and Vincent Elijah “Elijah” Canlas, Marvin “Marvs” Sambilay, and Leo “Leo” Hernandez from BulSUONE. There are 12 sociopolitical issues presented for the first round, these are Charter Change, Taking SMNI Off-Air, Same-Sex Marriage, Bulacan Airport, NTF-ELCAC Abolishment, Effectiveness of Opposing Party in Fulfilling their Ideology and Objectives, Multi-Party System, Police Presence in Campus, Effectiveness of BulSU E-Library Services, The Arrest of Apollo Quiboloy, Use of Artificial Intelligence in Academic Institutions, and Student Government Budget Allocation. As for the second batch, the senators to give their stands are Shine Andrea “Shine” Baiza, Jayson “Ydyey” Pascual, and Coco “Coco” Caparas from KASAMA, and Lovelace Althaea “Lovelace” Ramos, Christian Jay “CJay” Guintu, and Owa “Owa” Bautista from BulSUONE. They were also given 12 sociopolitical issues to give their stand on PUV Modernization, Boycotting Brands That Support Israel in the Israel-Palestine War, SOGIE Bill, Pura Luka Vega's Imprisonment, US and Philippines Alliance, Effectiveness of Incumbent SG Officers, Program Transferring External Campuses, Proposed Revision of SG CBL, Reimplementation of SPOC, Transwomen in Women's Pageant, Resort Development in Chocolate Hills, and Extension of New Campuses. The third segment, “Tapatan,” gave the candidates 2 minutes and 30 seconds to state their constructive speech about their given issues. The opposing candidate is also given a chance to ask questions for the interpolation, and the candidate will be given 1 minute to answer. Due to time constraints, the open mic session was skipped, but the SSC candidates were able to answer the Tanong ng Masa before the ceremony was ended by the closing remarks of the president of the Legal Management Society, Jorenelle C. Espiritu.