With no forward balance from the previous semester, the Office of the SAMAHAN Treasurer (OST) revealed a total budget of P839,000 for the first semester of the academic year 2024-2025.
The overall budget allocated for school projects and events was P306,586, while SAMAHAN departments and offices were given P271,390, followed by clusters, with a P241,024 budget.
Portions of the budget were already spent on recently concluded events such as the Magis Gala Bazaar and Ateneo University Fiesta, which cost P49,541 and P36,430, respectively.
“Gina-allocatetan din talaga ng malaking budget if ever ang event or project kay involving siya whole student body,” SAMAHAN Treasurer Mary Claire Clarde emphasized.
The SAMAHAN departments and offices’ budget ranged from P4,000 to P20,000, with reported project expenses such as P35,000 for office supplies and equipment and P54,990 for branding shoots, polo shirts, and pins.
“Some items were already available in the SAMAHAN and nag-procure na din kami since the first week of August na about all of the items, office supplies, equipment, so for this year binilhan na rin namin ang reps kay need na jud nila ng printer since physical copies na ang ginahingi ng offices, not like before na pwede pa online ang document,” Clarde said.
Aside from the materials and equipment, capacity trainings was also a part of their expenses to ensure effective event management, especially for the upcoming Palarong Atenista and UFest.
Among SAMAHAN’s departments and offices, the Department of Campaigns and Advocacies (DCA) initially proposed a P85,000 budget for its six advocacy areas and cluster advocacies—the largest amount proposed among all departments—but was only allocated P5,000.
“The budget was limited to 5,000 because we, together with ESU, will receive proceeds from Musikahan, which will be used to fund our vital projects, such as Children’s Day and the Adopt a Riverbank program,” SAMAHAN DCA Director Jewel Batoon said.
For the clusters’ budget, the majority voted for the base 18,000, allowing all clusters to receive their budget without compromising another cluster, ranging from P19,000 to P35,000, with the School of Engineering and Architecture cluster having the largest budget of P35,613.22.
All budgets were allocated except for the Student Judicial Court (SJC), which did not receive a budget as it is still set to be officially established this September.
“Since dili paman gud siya na-establish… so this September pa siya ma-publish and hopefully meron naman talaga yang, hopefully, may sobra man sa iba magbalik sa general fund so doon ko nalang kunin ang for them if ever naa silay need.”
Clarde also reminded the different departments, offices, and clusters about their deadlines and the newly imposed penalties for delayed liquidation reports.
“We decided na i-lobby namin na from now on, sila na mismo ang mag-process ng cash advance nila with our sign, moderator and then once ma-late sila liquidate non, ma-block na silag SIS or dili nila makuha ilang requirements if mag-graduate sila,” Clarde said.
Compared to the budget for the second semester of the academic year 2023-2024, this first semester’s budget was P60,000 less than the previous budget.
The budget generated comes from the 100 collection fee of 8,390 enrollees for this semester, with events and projects still accounting for the majority of the allocated budget, followed by clusters, offices, and departments.
The 1st Semester Budget Hearing was held at the SAMAHAN Office last Friday, August 30, 2024.