THE FACULTY of Arts and Letters Student Council (ABSC) seeks to revise the provisions on Bill of Rights and Meetings of its constitution to strengthen the rights of Artlets and increase the liability of council officers.
ABSC President Ysabela Gabrielle Marasigan told the Flame in an e-mail interview that the council is planning to revise Article IV (Bill of Rights) and Article IX (Meetings) because these are “integral parts to the main purpose of initiating [the call for a constitutional revision].”
Article IV states the rights of Artlets to vote, to run for any elective position in the council, to obtain public information, to be heard, to have a prompt, proper and impartial disposition of his or her case, and to freely form and organize.
ABSC intends to add the “right to direct redress for obligations” in which a council officer or any staff who commits negligence in his or her duties will be automatically held liable for his or her actions.
“When an officer loses a certain amount of money or any representative, assistant, staff of the council misappropriates or even misplaces dry goods or documents that amount to an obligation such as sale of merchandise or uniforms, he or she shall automatically be liable for that problem,” Marasigan said.
She added that Artlets may file a case directly to the person liable.
On the other hand, Article IX of the current ABSC constitution discusses the order, sanctions, and rules of executive meetings.
Marasigan said that apart from executive meetings, they also aim to have public meetings which will serve as “avenues to raise any concern to the council.”
The Board of Majors (BOM), which is the sole interpreter of the ABSC Constitution, held a meeting with ABSC about the technicalities of the revision last Saturday.
Marasigan hopes to finish the new constitution before the academic year ends.
The time is ripe
Issues that plagued the Faculty in recent years tested the current ABSC Constitution, which was last ratified in 2005.
“The previous issues of the Faculty have encouraged us to believe that there is a necessity for a revision of the Artlets Student Council Constitution such as the missing P50,000 and the [late deliveries of] Type B uniforms,” Marasigan said.
The revision of the ABSC Constitution was one of Marasigan’s platforms when she was campaigning for council presidency.
BOM Speaker Jerald Carl Andres also believes that it is time to change the ABSC Constitution.
“It has been almost 11 years. That’s a very long time. Syempre, nag-e-evolve na ang needs and interests ng Artlets. We need to adapt to the changing times,” Andres said.
Article XIII Sections 2 and 3 of the current ABSC Constitution state that any Artlet can initiate an amendment to or revision of the Constitution by filing a petition to the BOM and that any amendment to or revision of this Constitution shall be done through a Constitutional Convention, which shall be composed of all class presidents, or any duly recognized representative from each class. F
