FOR THE first time in four years, the Constitution of the Undergraduate Students of the Ateneo de Manila University Loyola Schools is being deliberated upon by the Sanggunian ng mga Mag-aaral ng mga Paaralang Loyola ng Ateneo de Manila through a constitutional assembly.

The Constitution was last amended and ratified in 2005 since it did not reach the required number of votes in the 2007 plebiscite. The assembly began its first session last November 18 at the Leadership Development Room.

Present in the said meeting were the Sanggunian Top 4: President Drew Copuyoc, Vice President Gio Alejo, Secretary General Ian Agatep, and Finance Officer Steph Gumaru; Ken Abante of the Council of Organizations of the Ateneo; Justin Tan of the Ateneo Resident Students Association; and majority of the Central Board (CB) Representatives of the four Loyola Schools.

“Basically, this revised constitution really puts emphasis on improving the representation aspect of the Sanggunian, as well as the accountability of officers elected into it,” Alejo said.

According to Copuyoc, “There will be significant proposed amendments to the Constitution that will affect the student body. One of them is the inclusion of part-time students in the constitution.” Part time students are those taking less than 12 units in a semester.

Of the 19 articles written in the proposed constitution, the first eight were already deliberated. However, the debate over Article VI, Section 5—which is about a student’s qualification to become an officer of the Sanggunian—has been moved to the next session.

A Committee on Constitutional Review prepared the proposed Constitution. It is composed of Alejo, senior CB Representatives Alyssa Nuqui and Nicole Reyes, and sophomore CB Representative Cate Sison.

After the constitutional assembly, ratification of the 2011 Constitution will depend on the results of a plebiscite scheduled this December.