The De La Salle University-Manila, through the University Student Government, will host the first-year of the recently established Samahang Lasalyano, and spearhead its first event, Lasallian Student Leaders Convention (LSLC) on November 25 and 26, 2021, with the theme “Building Foundations: Paving the Way for Lasallian Student Solidarity.”
The Samahang Lasalyano National Assembly, consisting of the member schools’ student governments and their respective delegates, will convene for the LSLC to formally declare the start of the regular session for its first year.
“The objective we want to achieve is to simply promote active collaboration and effective mobilization between Lasallians not just in Manila but also around the country. Instead of having all these Lasallian student governments and councils individually spread out doing their responsibilities with their respective agendas, why not mobilize them into one big group of Lasallians — Samahang Lasalyano. If we get all these Lasallian institutions, both with shared and unique identities, this can serve as an avenue for something big, one that will be for every single Lasallian here in the country. Nothing shall stop Lasallians from coming together, and by coming together through Samahang Lasalyano, by means of leadership and association, we can move towards and concretize our visions through our own identity. Simply being one Lasallian community for the nation,” Ms. Giorgina Escoto, DLSU-M University Student Government President said, sharing her insights on the importance of the alliance.
This year’s Samahang Lasalyano will be led by its Samahang Lasalyano Permanent Secretariat consisting of its National Convener (Tiffany Chua) and Executive Secretary (Raphaela Tan). DLSU-Manila will also be represented by its Ambassador (Keil Finez) and Deputy Ambassador (Julienne Gonzales).
Samahang Lasalyano is an alliance of the student governments of the Higher Education Lasallian Institutions in the Philippines (De La Salle University Manila, De La Salle University-Dasmariñas, De La Salle Medical and Health Sciences Institute, De La Salle-College of St. Benilde, University of St. La Salle Bacolod, De La Salle Lipa, La Salle University Ozamiz, and De La Salle Araneta University) that aims to unify Lasallians in concretely acting upon economic, social, cultural, and political issues that the Philippines is and will be facing. The National Assembly will convene biannually for LSLC and Samahang Lasalyano Midyear Conference (SLMC) to meet its goals and plans for the year.
Former Vice President for External Affairs, Cate Malig, and Samahang Lasalyano’s pioneering team Jillian Roxas and Lauren delos Angeles are the lead spearheading team of the alliance.
“It feels surreal, honestly. It started off just as an idea, then a meeting, then an MoU signing. After building upon it for months and being in collaboration with the member student governments and the Lasallian Youth Office, we’re now reaping the fruits of our labor and officially gathering as One Samahang Lasalyano for the very first time. It’s even more fulfilling knowing that this initiative will serve as a bridge connecting us all in the Lasallian community, as a platform where we can come together and truly be catalysts of change for God and country,” Ms. delos Angeles said.
Roxas expresses her gratitude and acknowledgement to those who made the platform possible. She said that the Samahang Lasalyano Alliance slowly coming into fruition is a realized dream for De La Salle Philippines for there will be a budding sustainable platform where Lasallian student leaders can come together, discuss, and collaborate. She also added that establishing the alliance was no easy feat–it wouldn’t have been possible without the network of tertiary De La Salle Schools that they have worked with for the past months. She expressed her gratitude to everyone they have worked with so far and to the current USG for pursuing the continuity of this alliance.
“First of all, I’d like to express that this initiative isn’t mine alone, nor is it our office’s. The collective effort of the Lasallian Youth Office, the Samahang Lasalyano Member Student Councils, and the Student Leaders to make up this alliance has made it come to life. I hold high hopes for all that the alliance can and will achieve as a platform to incite social change in the country and as a movement to strengthen the advocacy for students’ rights and welfare in our universities,” Former USG Vice President for External Affairs, Cate Malig said as she hopes well for the alliance moving forward.
