The Legislative Assembly representatives held the final LA session for the year yesterday, April 4, 2014. The agenda on the table included the Student Handbook Revision Council for the College of Science, Comprehensive Bomb Threat Guidelines, the Anti-discrimination bill, the Declaration of the Temporary Office of the Ombudsman and other matters which concerned the Representatives.
The first agendum discussed was the one that concerned the Student Handbook Revision Council for the College of Science. The proponents of this bill are the FOCUS2011 Representative Frances Vista, Pat Bautista and Meg Labios who are the incoming Representatives for FOCUS2012 and FOCUS2013 respectively.
EXCEL2015 Representative Micah Fernando questioned why only the College of Science (COS) will have this said council – meant to represent the college during student handbook revision period – and why not the a council for the whole University be established. Vista replied by giving out characteristics of her College and that having a University wide council will defeat the purpose of the bill since the bill aims to fix certain provisions unique to COS. FAST2013 Representative Matthew Yabut motioned the floor to approve the proposition. The resolution was unanimously approved by the Representatives.
The next point of discussion centered on the Comprehensive Bomb Threat Guidelines for academic year 2014-2015. The resolution was authored by FAST2013 Representative Matthew Yabut, CATCH2T17 Representative Patrick Kahn and co-authored by FAST2013 LIA-COM course representative Bea Marquez.
The resolution aimed to have students, specifically the University Student Government Executive Board be in constant communication with the Campus Services Office headed by Vice-Chancellor for Campus Services Jay Calleja in the formation of bomb threat guidelines for academic year 2014-2015. The resolution was passed, with the Legislative Assembly tasked to coordinate with the Campus Services Office and the incoming Executive Board mandated to promote the awareness campaign for the said guidelines.
EXCEL2014 Representative Anjho Cruz opened the floor for the resolution concerning the Anti-discrimination bill. The proponents for this bill are FAST2012 and FAST2010 representatives Bea Minana and Vani Altomonte, with the rationale of this manifesto being to its stand in terms of protecting the rights of students based on the student handbook. Altomonte shared that the Student Discipline Formation Office (SDFO) will be in charge, and that this manifesto’s goal is to compel the USG and the SDFO to look at what improvements can be done to protect students’ rights based on the Anti-discrimination bill.
The last resolution discussed for the academic year was the resolution Calling for a Temporary Office of the Ombudsman and the Approval of the Qualifications of the Ombudsman for the Academic Year 2014-2015. The proponents of this resolution are Altomonte, Cruz and 68th ENG Representative Binky Suarez. The goal of this resolution is to have a temporary Office of the Ombudsman for the next academic year.
Kahn opened the floor for discussion of the said resolution. Cruz stated that for the sake of accountability and responsibility, the Office of the Ombudsman must exist, even if at the very least as a temporary measure. Altomonte used the Science and Technology Complex Government (STCG) as a basis, since it is a temporary measure as well. Kahn agreed with the proponents, adding that the USG President should appoint the Ombudsman with the Legislative Assembly approving the said appointment upon consultation with the Judiciary just like in national setting. Suarez then stated that the Ombudsman should not be connected to any USG branch.
A recommendation was raised that SLIFE should be the one that would watch over the elected officers, to which Altomonte replied that a student should be policing his fellow students. Kahn then recommended that the Office Monitoring Board is a good enough alternative, saying it is their job to watch over all USG units. Penafiel then stated the processes and the people involved when a case is filed against an elected USG officer.
With regards to the Office’s being transitory, Penafiel explained afterwards that the STC Government – created pro tempore – cannot be used as a basis since it was approved via a plebiscite. After various alternatives were mentioned, the Assembly agreed that the Ombudsman can be created via a law. Cruz and Altomonte announced to the floor that next year’s Legislative Assembly will be the key together with more research on the said agendum, suggesting that the bill be laid on the table for discussion. Altomonte motioned that the resolution be laid on the table for which the motion was unanimously approved.
