The Legislative Assembly (LA) convened in the University Student Government (USG) Session Hall last February 18 to finalize two resolutions addressing the recent arrest of Rappler head Maria Ressa and commemorating the 33rd People Power Revolution anniversary. Only 15 representatives were present in the proceedings, reaching an implied quorum—the minimum number needed to pass a resolution.
Legislators also discussed the resignation of two Science and Technology College Government Representatives, Geo Olaivar and Jj Trinidad.
The need to act
LA Representatives Marco Zulaybar of FOCUS2017 and Karl Leyco of EXCEL2019 presented their resolution calling for the release of the manifesto on Ressa. Leyco explained that Ressa’s case “really goes to show that she was blitzed and very much caught off guard with the case filed against her.” He further highlighted that the first part of the manifesto’s second paragraph argues further why her arrest was unjust.
The following agenda, presented by CATCH2T22 LA Representative Gabriel Minamedez and BLAZE2018 LA Representative Shawn David, was regarding a manifesto on the upcoming EDSA Revolution anniversary later this month.
Rounds of rewrites
The two resolutions, however, were marred by several edits and revisions from the representatives on the floor, with legislators spending a bulk of the session solely on making corrections.
Advising to include a call to action addressed to the government, CATCH2T21 LA Representative Jaime Pastor cited that journalists such as Ressa are simply trying to express their own viewpoints, something that they should be allowed to do.
“They (the government) should not do this kind of thing and not intrude on the [freedom of the press], and also they should not start bullying people who are against the current administration,” he argued.
After further reviewing the said manifesto, FAST2016 LA Representative Frances Hernandez requested for recess to better discuss the direction of the manifesto with the rest of the assembly.
Chief Legislator Stella Santos also provided major revisions to the manifesto by changing its title, explaining, “Since we’re trying to focus on the unjust arrest of Rappler CEO Maria Ressa, we want to change the title to A manifesto on the unjust arrest of Rappler CEO Maria Ressa.” The manifesto originally did not include “unjust” in the title.
On the EDSA Revolution manifesto, multiple revisions were raised to the proponents, such as FAST2017 LA Representative Neal Gonzales’ request to omit a section of the second paragraph.
Minamedez defended the structure of the manifesto, explaining that they “just wanted to emphasize that people gathered together and united for a reason.” However, he acknowledged the numerous suggestions of the assembly.
Amid the editing of the resolution, 72nd ENG LA Representative Marian Lao ordered for a 10-minute recess, during which the manifesto was trimmed down, while also inserting parallelisms between the Marcos administration and the current administration.
Despite the grueling edits, both manifestos were approved unanimously by the LA.
Resignations and other matters
Pastor stated that both Olaivar and Trinidad have officially graduated from DLSU and can no longer be part of the LA.
Currently, the resigned representatives are looking for their replacements, with Pastor stating that they intend to fill the vacant seats within the term. The resolution was approved with all 15 proponents voting unanimously in favor.
