By: Sophia Pacheco
Photo courtesy: Julia Iris Eguillano/The LANCE
The Letran Student Council (LSC) held the first session of its Constitutional Convention on Friday, Feb. 14, at Del Pillar Hall, aiming to refine and revise the organization’s current constitution, with various Recognized Student Organization (RSO) representatives in attendance.
Alecks Gallardo, Vice President of the LSC and the convention's Chairperson, opened the meeting with a speech emphasizing the importance of a constitutional convention, together with Jed Acosta, deputy secretary of LSC and the secretary general.
“Na-recognize po namin ‘yong need to amend the current LSC constitution,” Gallardo shared.
“Siyempre kailangan may overwhelming consultation ito pong convention natin dahil hindi lang naman ‘to pang [organization], this constitution also affects the student body,” she added.
The convention discussed all proposed amendments by RSO representatives to the current constitution, which were asked in advance from selected RSO presidents through email, and were given the opportunity to present their proposals together with supporting arguments to express their points of view.
The proposals included a preamble, a brief statement of goal, and the history of the LSC for ‘Letranites to better understand the student council.’
Another amendment under Article I of the council’s constitution is to include the word 'Manila' in the title of the 'Letran Student Council' to enhance representation and provide a ‘more defined and distinct character.’
Also under Article I is the proposal to insert 'Intramuros, Manila' to the proposed section 'The constitution shall govern the Letran Student Council of the Colegio de San Juan de Letran'.
Upon deliberation,, Chairperson Gallardo and Acosta called for a vote on the proposed amendments, which majority of the proposals under Article I were adopted and entrepreneur representative’s proposal for a preamble.
Meanwhile, a motion to void the Marketing Management representative’s proposals, including the addition of a preamble, was voided for using a different basis for the constitution and deferred for further study.
The LSC’s next constitutional convention session would be scheduled in the coming weeks, February. 21 and 28.