The Legislative Assembly (LA), in its session last November 13, passed the proposed budget for the University Student Government (USG) and the guidelines for the qualifications of the USG Ombudsman.
Also among the agenda was a resolution that would have formally called for changes to the USG Constitution, which had to be deferred to the next session as the formal legislation was yet to be drafted. This allowed the body to vote on accepting further changes to the charter.
USG budget approved
The Assembly passed the USG’s budget allocation for the current academic year (AY), per the resolution filed by LA Representatives Nina Bermejo of EXCEL2020, Paolo Delos Reyes of CATCH2T20, and Jaime Pastor of CATCH2T21.
The resolution detailed that the USG Executive Board (EB) proposed a total budget amounting to over P1.25-million—with the Office of the Treasurer (OTREAS) receiving the largest allocation of P310,000, while the Office of the President gets the least with P175,000.
In terms of individual projects, the three most costly are projected to be the USG shirts and lanyards to be procured by the Office of the Secretary, subsidized student services managed by OTREAS, and the One in Service, One La Salle program by OPRES, needing P150,000, P140,000, and P100,000, respectively. Using the operational fund from Academic Year (AY) 2018-2019, only around P154,000 can be shared by the EB.
The College Government Units, meanwhile, are alloted over P189,000 to be distributed among the colleges, depending on the student population. Batch Government Units will each receive an amount between P4,000 to P6,000.
Other allocations include P55,000 for the Judiciary, P5,000 for the Laguna Campus Student Government (LCSG), and P1,000 for the LA.
In total, the operational fund used in the allocation was over P557,000.
Executive Treasurer Kevin Wu explained that changes for the fixed allocations—the portion of the budget that goes to the LA, Judiciary, LCSG, and some executive departments—remained at a minimum, with new allowances made for the Judiciary branch. “‘Yung ginawa ko lang na adjustment is the Judiciary branch. Most of them—COA, Comelec, and magistrate—sobrang liit lang ng budget nila para magkaroon sila ng GA (General Assembly) and stuff,” he reasoned.
(The only adjustment I made is with the [budget for] the Judiciary branch. Most of them—[the Commission on Audit], [the Commission on Elections], and [the] magistrates—they only have very small budget allocations to cover their [general assemblies] and stuff.)
With concerns settled, the USG budget allocation for AY 2019-2020 was approved in a unanimous vote by the LA.
Further amendments to USG charter
Having already finalized the amendments to the USG Constitution during the previous session, the LA voted to reopen the floor to changes to the charter after Majority Floor Leader Maegan Ragudo motioned to retract a previously approved revision.
Ragudo was referring to an earlier decision to change the official name of the USG into the De La Salle University-Manila and Laguna Campus Student Government. Explaining her move to reverse this decision, she said that the inclusion of the Laguna Campus “would cause much confusion.”
She also pointed out that the DLSU mission statement cited in the constitution was “outdated” and thus proposed to change the pertinent provision to be in line with the current one. Ragudo’s two proposals both garnered the support of the body.
The charter change, however, was still not backed by a resolution, which is needed for the draft constitution to become formally endorsed by the body. The authors of the said legislation, Ragudo and Minority Floor Leader Neal Gonzales, however, promised that the document can be ready in time for their next session, which is scheduled later today
Chief Legislator Willem De Castro accepted this but told the body to not add any further amendments when the LA again takes up the agendum.
Ombud qualifications
The LA also unanimously decided to include a section on the qualifications of ombudspersons within the USG’s supplementary guidelines, from a resolution introduced by Gonzales and four others.
The first provision specifies, “The Ombudsman, LSCG Deputy Ombudsman, and Deputy Ombudsmen, should have at least three (3) terms left in the University, must not have actively supported or have been a part of any political party, or student media organization in his/her entire stay, and must be knowledgeable of the USG constitution and its bylaws.”
A further restriction prohibits the said officers from holding any appointed or elected positions in the USG or Council of Student Organizations while in office. Gonzales explained that the basis for the measure was an earlier discussion within the LA to bare the qualifications as part of the supplementary guidelines.
The resolution was also approved unanimously by the body.
Other matters
The LA deliberated on less serious matters as well, including the official logo to be used by the Assembly. EXCEL2021 LA Representative Katrina Ignacio clarified that a draft is already in progress but De Castro raised concern if a logo change is permitted by administration, laying the issue on the table.
Representatives from the Students’ Rights and Welfare Committee, Rules and Policies Committee, and National Affairs Committee also briefly outlined progress on respective concerns including initiatives fighting discrimination and sexual harassment, research areas for improvement for the USG, and a possible partnership with commuters’ rights group AltMobilityPH.
The Assembly thereafter moved for a closed door session to discuss internal concerns before the session ended.
