The Legislative Assembly (LA), in its session last February 28, considered a measure that seeks to make the information dissemination of University Student Government (USG) units “more effective and efficient.”
BLAZE2021 Batch Representative Robin Lim, one of the proponents of the legislation, explained that the proposed policy will mandate all Facebook pages of college governments and batch governments to relay the important announcements from the USG, widening the reach of information from the governing bodies.
Improving information flow
Co-author Katkat Ignacio, EXCEL2021 Batch Representative, provided the context for the move, saying, “For the past term, we’ve noticed that many students have been questioning their batch governments even though the announcements have been posted on the DLSU USG Facebook page.” This, she remarked, was why they opted to mandate college governments and batch government pages to share the USG’s social media posts.
73rd ENG Batch Representative Alfonso Claros elaborated that the range of announcements that the resolution covers includes those about pre-enlistment, enlistment and enrollment, class suspensions, student services, academic concerns, and others that may be deemed important.
This will all be handled through a process that begins with the USG Office of the Secretary (OSEC) giving instructions to the college and batch governments who, in turn, will ask their officers to comply. As the OSEC takes responsibility of monitoring the system, the proponents assured that USG Executive Secretary EJ Baillo stated that he is “very open to making sure that the communication between all of the information and announcements are very efficient.”
Lim also mentioned that Baillo will impose sanctions on those who fail to comply. Urban Teh of BLAZE2020, however, suggested having the penalties listed in the bill rather than leaving them to OSEC’s discretion.
Amid further concerns and recommendations such as having a time window, lowering the number of votes needed for the measure to pass in the LA, and additional rewording, the discussion on the bill was postponed.
71st ENG BP, BVP seats still vacant
With the LA’s decision to delay the appointment of batch executives for the 71st ENG due to technicalities in the pertinent resolutions, the seats for the presidency and vice presidency of the ID 116 Engineering cohort remain vacant. The positions stood empty since the previous officers finished their terms and have remained so after both the 2019 General Elections and 2019 Special Elections failed to produce winners.
Expected to succeed as President is Joan Encarnacion, while Joanne Tung is set to be second-in-command. Presenting their joint platforms to the student parliament, Encarnacion explained that their priority was hosting an activity, yet unspecified, regarding students’ on-the-job training. She elaborated that they plan to hold a general assembly or a “get together” for their batchmates. “I think our main goal since we’re a terminal batch [is that] we want to establish connections between different [degree programs],” she went on.
FOCUS2018 Batch Representative Renee Formoso, however, pointed out that one of the endorsement letters for the appointments was not signed by the college president, while the other did not have a signatory at all. While the shortcomings are set to be addressed, the LA decided to set both matters on the table for the meantime.
FOCUS2018 BP resigns
Another vacancy opened when the legislative body approved the resignation of FOCUS2018 Batch President Jillian Roxas over health concerns. Speaking on her behalf, her Batch Vice President, Jeremy Dalmacio, explained that Roxas will be needing time “so that she is able to continue with her academics and her daily life”.
Having already turned in her resignation letter two weeks prior, Roxas had previously told the LA that her lead role in certain projects will be given to other officers. With Delmacio set to ascend into office and for the meantime assume both presidential and vice presidential roles, the incoming batch head said he intends to “gather” opportunities for his constituents’ upcoming Global Enrichment Term.
He also talked about his plan to take care of the mental health of his batch unit. Part of this were his prospects of “properly communicating with my batch government and all the members under me, so that I’ll be able to delegate tasks properly and not just take all of the job [on] my own.”
Addressing Roxas’ experience, Ignacio expressed that she was hoping for the outgoing President’s recovery. Majority Floor Leader Maegan Ragudo followed by offering the LA’s help in giving their support.
With the resignation being the only approved move during the meeting, the tabled agenda are to be taken up again in future LA sessions. The LA is expected to reconvene next week at the Laguna Campus.
Correction: March 1, 2020. 4:08 pm.
The previous version of this article incorrectly stated Joanne Tung as applying for the 71st ENG Batch President position, and Joan Encarnacion as applying for the Batch Vice President role. The names have been reversed to reflect the correct positions.
