LA appoints GCOE magistrate, approves TFI Manual

Last January 8, the University Student Government (USG) Legislative Assembly (LA) held a session at the USG Conference Room to discuss the appointment of the new Magistrate for Gokongwei College of Engineering (GCOE) Rafael Rabacca and a students’ manifesto calling for the national government’s prioritization of the Maguindanao Massacre.

In a deliberation held by the LA, Rabacca was asked a series of questions regarding his experiences and plans for the Judiciary. Rabacca was previously a prosecutor for several impeachment cases and served as a Judiciary Counsel Officer.

Rabacca suggested establishing a more active Judiciary by organizing seminars open to the student body, such as seminars tackling public speaking. These seminars, however, must not be used for recruitment purposes, but solely for providing additional knowledge to the students. With regard to judicial proceedings, Rabacca argued that Philippine laws still apply to the USG, considering that the USG’s political structure was generally patterned with that of the Philippine government. However, there are laws in the USG constitution that apply specifically to the nature of USG. Furthermore, he suggested that the USG’s system should be improved gradually, rather than revamping it completely.

After a majority vote, Rabacca was then approved as the new Magistrate for GCOE, joining Angel Pascual from the School of Economics and JC Santos from the Ramon V. Del Rosario College of Business.

Next in the agenda was the students’ manifesto on the Maguindanao Massacre, where the LA discussed multiple amendments, mainly on the structure and message they wanted to bring across. The Maguindanao Massacre occured last November 23, 2009, and as of press time the legal proceedings have only reached partial decisions and the Department of Justice started the probe of 50 new suspects last March.

Another LA session was held last January 15, where the assembly discussed a resolution calling for the approval of the Tuition Fee Increase (TFI) Manual, and the release of the open letter for the Leader I Want Forum.

In an effort of the USG to establish guidelines for the tuition fee board, the LA proposed a resolution that calls for the materialization of the TFI Manual. The manual is supposed to contain the proper structure and procedures to be followed during meetings concerning tuition fees.

In the proposed resolution, the LA seeks for either the Office of the Executive Treasure (OTREAS) Executive Treasurer or TFI board chairperson to be capable of holding meetings. The LA concurred with the majority on mandating the Executive Treasurer to be present at all tuition board meetings. The move is in line with the objective of having proper and accurate consultation for OTREAS to prevent possible issues to transpire. For special cases when the Executive Treasurer is unable to attend, he or she may send a representative according to the line of succession.

Another agenda tackled was the resolution that concerns the release of the open letter for the Leader I Want Forum.

In the proposed resolution, the LA wishes to encourage participation from the Lasallian community for the upcoming forum through means of social media. The forum will have presidentiables and vice presidentiables in attendance and will be held at the Teresa Yuchengco Auditorium on January 20. The event is spearheaded by Rappler, in partnership with DLSU.

Another agenda was the resolution of implementing USG House Rules, where the LA discussed multiple guidelines directed at maintaining cleanliness and orderliness in the office. Concerns such as the ruling of USG ID lace, proper disposal of trash, a change in USG conference room reservation, and a new logging system were emphasized.

For other concerns, the LA booth week is postponed due to the prioritization of The Leader I Want Forum.