by Natania Shay Du and Nathaniel Carampatana | October 19, 2023
Following concerns raised due to the absence of an official Silliman University Student Government (SUSG) Judiciary, the SUSG Assembly Committee on Appointments (COApp) announced that individuals endorsed by the SUSG President and Vice President (VP) will immediately act as justices pending the submission of their requirements.
COApp Chairperson Rep. Christian Cual also said that the judiciary will start operating following the adjournment of the SUSG Assembly’s 5th Regular Session held on Oct. 15 at the Science Complex 111.
However, the names of the Judiciary members were not announced during the session. The Weekly Sillimanian (tWS) has repeatedly requested that the list of justices be released following the announcement, but the Student Assembly and COApp have not responded as of writing.
Meanwhile, the deadline for the requirements of the judiciary appointees was set on Oct. 26.
“If they do not comply with the requirements [on or before the deadline], further discussions will be permitted in the next regular session,” Rep. Cual said.
Last Oct. 9, the SUSG standard bearers sent an email to COApp containing a list of endorsed judiciary appointees. This list was updated on Oct. 11 “due to unforeseen conflicts.”
However, these endorsements were sent after the Founders’ Week Celebration, which is the deadline for the “fill[ing]” of appointive positions according to the 2021 SUSG Constitution, as pointed out by an editorial released by tWS on Oct. 4.
SUSG VP Timothy Libres said the situation resulted from the shift of the academic year and calendar from June to August.
“[For] the pre-pandemic administration, they have more flexibility in managing these appointments. But the current circumstances required the SUSG to function only by a single month to prepare everything,” he said.
VP Libres also said the SUSG Constitution and some of its provisions are no longer applicable and plans to take action on the matter.
“We still hold ourselves accountable for this one. While the SUSG Constitution establishes the rules, providing a set of fundamental principles and rules that both the student government and the students must abide [by], there is still a need for improvement and soon to be reflected in the revitalization of the 2021 SUSG Constitution,” he said.
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