By Paul Ray Donaire | August 22, 2023
A new Silliman University Student Government (SUSG) committee on socio-political “awareness, development, and protection” began operations when the school year 2023-2024 opened.
The Socio-Political Committee was created through Resolution No. 6, “A Resolution Institutionalizing a Socio-Political Executive Committee in the Silliman University Student Government.” It was approved on Dec. 1, 2022.
The committee is chaired by Roi Vincent Morin, who co-authored the said resolution.
Bianca Joyce Flores, Ma. Yzabella Avanzado, and Izabelle Jhoan Credo also serve as co-vice chairs.
Projects and initiatives
In an interview, Morin said the committee would take on the role of advocates for student participation, ensuring “inclusivity” and “corruption[-free]” operation for Local Youth Development Council (LYDC) events.
One of SUSG Socio-PolComm’s first actions in office was the participation of its vice chairs as non-voting representatives at the 2nd Regular Meeting of the LYDC on Aug. 4, at the Dumaguete City Session Hall.
After that, the committee will co-leg an event on Aug. 26 that will commemorate the first-year death anniversary of Percy Lapid, who was the second journalist killed under the Marcos Administration.
Spearheaded by the Center for People’s Media, the event will be a national kickoff held at Silliman University for Visayas, the University of Santos Thomas for Luzon, and Xavier University for Mindanao.
Morin added that speakers from VERA Files, Rappler, and other local journalists will attend and discuss the implications of “journalism killings in the Philippines” on press freedom and democracy.
Moreover, SUSG Socio-PolComm plans to conduct a voter education campaign for the upcoming barangay and Sangunniang Kabataan elections in collaboration with the SUSG Students’ Rights and Welfare Committee. A subcommittee, “Sugod Silliman,” will be in charge of the said campaign.
“Our target date is [the] last week of August or [the] first week of September. We will also [communicate] with other organizations within campus and outside the campus, such as the Sangguniang Kabataan of Dumaguete,” Morin said.
The committee is also set to lead the commemoration of the Martial Law Declaration on Sept. 21, 2023.
