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On October 27, 2025, the College Student Council – School of Computing (CSC-SoC) held its first and only first-semester press conference on MSTeams, livestreamed on Facebook, to disclose the staggering 245k spending throughout the previous semester and plans for the upcoming semester.

The press conference began with CSC-SoC Governor Aerith Catap giving the opening remarks to the Foxes, followed by the financial report presented by CSC-SoC Councilor for Finance, Alison Sampang.

CSC-SoC received P5,327.66 from the previous term and P98,995 from USC-CSC Angelite Funds. Additionally, the council collected P64,151 through sales on SoC Merch 2025 and P106,500 from College Days Sponsorships, garnering a total of P274,973.66 as working funds for the first semester.

Sampang explained that the Council spent a total of P245,550.88 for the Second batch of SoC Merch 2024, General Assembly, Youth Development Days, SoC Merch 2025 production, Logistics, and College Days, leaving the CSC-SoC a cash balance of P29,442.78.

However, CSC-SoC updated their financial report in their recent press release on November 1. They added the P8,614 that was collected from the Batch 2 Merch of 2024 to their working funds, which was previously classified under their cash outflows from the Press Conference. Following the update, their working funds now total P283,587.66, while their cash outflows total P236,936.88.

After the financial report presentation, Catap concisely presented the logistics and equipment of the student council. Additionally, he emphasized that unclaimed merchandise is stored at the CSC-SoC office and will be distributed during the 2nd semester enrollment.  

He then discussed the first-semester accomplishments, including the appointment of former USC Finance Director Charles Lansang as USC Solicitor General and Arriane Meg Esguerra as SoC CSO Commissioner, later elected CSO Chairperson. The CSC-SoC Governor also gave updates on his three priority bills, Sustainable Event Management, Gender-Inclusive Language, and Staff Empowerment, submitted to the HAUSG University Senate. The Gender-Inclusivity bill is now on its second reading, while SoC Senator Alfred Trillanes introduced the Staff Empowerment and Mentorship Framework Act for its first reading.

Throughout the first semester, the CSC-SoC accomplished the General Assembly, Pride Month campaign, Teacher’s Day video compilation, collaborative outreach, review sessions, and SoC merchandise pre-orders. Furthermore, the council assisted with first-semester enrollment and the 4th Regional Cybersecurity Conference 2025. Aside from events, the council launched the SoC Discord Server-Fox Society, and FOX CARE form for students who want to raise grievances and concerns to SoC Faculty and community.

“We want to reform yung Discord natin since we noticed na hindi na siya naging active over the past few months, and with that being said, for the next semester, we would ensure na magiging active yung Discord server,” said Catap.

CSC-SoC initiated Academic Review sessions in collaboration with SoC organizations to provide academic mentorships and tutorials for first to third year students in their professional courses. SoC won multiple awards in the Youth Development Days (YDD) last August.

Moving forward to SoC days, one of the biggest event of the student council, Governor Catap disclosed the reason why they shifted from year-level groupings to a housing system. According to him, they want to promote camaraderie and collaboration between various students from different year levels and blocks. Adding to that, Catap apologized for the inconveniences that happened during College Days, emphasizing that they would take stronger measures for the upcoming events.

CSC-SoC Vice Governor Alessandra Dagdag then highlighted the accomplishments and upcoming plans of SoC organizations. Code Geeks have distributed membership cards and are preparing for workshops, seminars, and outreach programs, with a proposed culminating assembly for web development students. The Cybersecurity Intelligence Alliance plans to hold cybersecurity sessions, release a newsletter, and collaborate with CSC-SoC next semester. MAFIA announced several upcoming events, including EMC360, Beyond Canvas, Aniraya 2026, and a Thesis Showcase, while AWSLC-HAU completed its first-semester activities but has yet to announce plans for the next term.

During the Q&A session, Governor Catap shared that the council’s finance officer will organize the schedule for claiming SoC merchandise, with the possibility of opening a second batch soon. He added that the CSC-SoC will conduct an evaluation to identify areas for improvement and better respond to the needs of the SoC community, aiming to increase student engagement. Addressing concerns about class suspensions, Catap clarified that he had reached out to the SoC Dean to request asynchronous sessions; however, the authority to suspend classes lies solely with the President of Academic Affairs.

He also emphasized plans to strengthen communication and collaboration with CPL and the administration to improve the academic experience of students. Additionally, he mentioned that HAU-SoC was unable to participate in the Regional Assembly on Information Technology Education (RAITE) organized by PSITE due to its schedule coinciding with the final exam week.

The press conference concludes as CSC-SoC Governor Catap expressed his gratitude to the viewers and promised that they will do their best for the second semester.

By Paulo Paras