To the 2009-2010 SDP Core and Members

To My Dear SDP Family,

The academic year that will come will not be an easy time… It will not be an easy time for the Quadricentennial AB Student Council. And it is certainly not an easy time for the Students’ Democratic Party. Great things are expected of us by the student body, sometimes far beyond our modest capabilities.

Our fellow Artlets, although great believers of democracy, are not great believers in its tedious process. Students are impatient for quick results, quick progress and quick change. I know these things very well because I had the chance of serving in the council as the Public Relations Officer. Many times they expect the Council to do decision which only the administration or the Dean himself can do. They look to the Council for miracles that only the good Lord in his infinite wisdom can arrange.

The SDP campaign days (which include the campaign of affiliates in the different societies) we have been training our thoughts on accountability. What really comes before accountability is authenticity. Authenticity, according to the dictionary, is genuineness, being true to character, being constant with our inner nature.

There is so much falsehood, so much deception, fakery, and phoniness in our common life that we Thomasian leaders must remain true to the best we know – both in public and private leadership. This is the one thing that makes me so proud being an SDP, we are genuine.

When I first came to the halls of AB, I have been pleased to be an active member of the Students’ Democratic Party. In the 2008 elections I was chosen by the party and ran as the President, under the Blue & Red banner (as what other students call the SDP). SDP, it will be remembered, was the party that fielded a ticket to oppose the seven independent candidates, with disastrous results. March 2008 came, and I was elected as the Chairperson of the party.

During the brief time I served the party, I have tried to prove myself worthy of our member’s mandate and the expectations of my fellow party officers. The job in the SDP core is more often than not a job for gods rather than for college students, but we try to give it our best, and our all. That is why I understand the situation of our Chairperson Sheena de Guzman and the rest of the current core officers. Many times the core officers’ best is not good enough, but I hope they shall be judged by righteous men on the basis of their sincere efforts to do the best that they can.

The victory of our bets in the positions VP-Internal and Secretary in the ABSC and the successful campaigns of our affiliates (Ka-CASA, Journ Soc, Asian Studies, etc.) made me really happy not only as your former Party Chairperson but also as your “Kuya” - and I hope the entire SDP family too including my fellow alumni members – and I thank all our party colleagues and supporters especially the freshmen for their warmth and generosity to this party.

I thank the party and its officers for the opportunity it gave me to be a “Kuya,” as I continue to remain in my place in the party now as one of the alumni prepared to work and sacrifice and contribute whatever I can to continue the advancement of our ideals.

We live in the best and worst of times. The challenges are formidable, we have already lost so much time, and so we must create and multiply opportunity as best as we can.

Much is expected from each one of us. And there is much that each of us can do. But a party ought to be bigger than the sum of all its parts.

Working together in pursuit of a common vision and a common objective, we can provide the authentic leadership and the impulse that will lift the student body from the current state and move them fast forward to better times enjoying quality liberal education. Let us help each other to boost morale instead of bickering and passing the buck. We fight as one, “wag tayo mag sisihan sa mga maling naganap,” isang partido lang tayo.

This political party is destined to exist beyond our lifetime as long as there are members who believes on its true cause, and fights for it passionately. For the lower batch I sincerely hope that we have taught you well of our principles. Let us not lose track on the right road that we are travelling now, but instead let us focus more and improve ourselves. Running the party is not just about planning how to win the upcoming elections, but instead practicing the ideals we have, and serving the student body genuinely.

May you guys find us the alumni and the outgoing core officers faithful in keeping the flame of liberalism and democracy alive.

SDP leadership is authentic. This is authenticity; this is to be a genuine Christian, Nationalist, and Democrat in one’s position of great responsibility in the common life as what our Democratic Creed has thought us. These things I have learned on our blue paper, ideals I will bear for the rest of my life, principles which my future children will learn.

To all the SDP members, Mabuhay kayo!

May God keep the SDP for the next 29 years and for all time.

Long Live the Students’ Democratic Party.

In SDP leadesrhip I strongly remain,


Your Kuya Manuel "MANNY" Rodriguez II
Chairperson (08-09)
Standard Bearer(2008)
ABSC PRO (07-08)