August 8, 2014 – Twelve newly-appointed constitutional commissioners and the SAMAHAN Central Board (SCB) convened in order to create a new Constitutional Commission (ConComm) that will be put in charge of drafting the new SAMAHAN constitution.

Current SCB President, Regel Kent A. Asuero, stressed the need to create another constitutional commission in order to amend the 1982 constitution, which is currently being used.

Asuero recommended to the ConComm that only the Transitory Provisions of the last year’s 2014 draft be amended. He discouraged applying changes in the other provisions of the 2014 draft.

The SAMAHAN President envisions to submit the 2014 draft with only the Transitory Provisions altered for plebiscite.

“The 2014 constitution is a product of three constitutional commissions,” he stressed. He believes that it no longer needs any further amendments aside from some loop holes in the Transitory Provisions, like the schedule of the next election of the Central Board Officers after the constitution’s ratification.

The 2014 draft states that the next election will be held a year after the draft’s ratification. If the draft is ratified by the end of this semester, the student body has to elect the new Central Board Officials by the end of the first semester next school year. However, an election in the middle of the school year would present itself as a problem since some of the previous officials will be graduating, creating empty positions in the Student Government.

Asuero urged the ConComm to finish the amendments by August 28, submit the new constitutional draft to the Student Affairs Committee for approval, and immediately conduct a political education of the student body. He also suggested that another plebiscite take place before the semester ends.

According to him, the current constitution, which was ratified on 1982, is outdated.

The outdated 1982 constitution gives powers to the now-defunct Agriculture division.

Asuero emphasized that the ConComm is independent from the SCB, and that the Central Board cannot directly influence the decisions of the ConComm. Any recommendations presented by the SAMAHAN President may or may not be honored by the Constitutional Commission.