THE SANGGUNIAN will formalize the Constitutional Commission (Con-Com) in an effort to gain student participation in this year’s amendment of the 2005 Sanggunian Constitution.
According to Sanggunian Vice President Ryan Yu, the main goal of the Con-Com will be to gather comments and suggestions of students with regard to constitutional changes.
The Central Board (CB) will then process the suggested constitutional changes.
However, the amendments will only be finalized through a constitutional plebiscite.
“What we’re intending to create as of the moment is a body that is more consultative in nature,” said Yu during the CB meeting last June 21.
He added that through the Con-Com, the Sanggunian wishes to refine the process of amending the constitution.
The commission will be headed by former Sanggunian Secretary-General Cate Sison and former School of Humanities CB Representative Nick Lucero.
Amendment process
Yu summarized the system to be implemented by the Con-Com.
First, the commission will gather constitutional change suggestions from all sectors of the student body. The Con-Com will process these suggested amendments, and consultation with concerned sectors and groups will be made.
The Con-Com will present the suggestions to the CB, who will then put the changes to a vote.
If an amendment is approved, the CB will coordinate with the Ateneo Student Concern Center (ASCC), who will make the proposed constitutional change available to the public.
The ASCC is a committee under the Office of the Vice President that is in charge of information dissemination.
After ASCC’s announcement, the student body is given one to two weeks to comment on the proposed change. Should no objections be raised, the amendment concerned will be finalized through a constitutional plebiscite.
However, should students reject a proposed amendment or should the CB vote against it before its public announcement, the suggested constitutional change will be reviewed by the Con-Com.
Yu said that there are still areas in Con-Com’s system that need to be finalized, including the exact methods for getting feedback from students.
Nevertheless, he is hopeful that the Sanggunian Constitution will be amended this year.
Updated 2:14 AM, June 22, 2013.
