THE UST Central Commission on Elections (Comelec) is set to revise the UST Students’ Election Code (USEC) 2011, which would pattern the organization after the country's election body.
Central Comelec Vice Chairperson Raymond Naguit said the Central Comelec has already started drafting the new students’ election code, which shall be called the Thomasian Election’s Code of 2015.
“Probably, next school year, we will be presenting the draft to the Central Board and once it is already approved by the Central Board, then that is the time that it will be implemented,” Naguit told the Varsitarian.
Specific changes
Central Comelec chairperson Julia Unarce said the new code would have two books. Book one will focus on the internal operations of the Comelec while book two will cover the University’s elections.
Naguit said the Central Comelec would be restructured and pattered after the National Comelec. He said this would mean "additional positions in the organization to spell the differences of the operation side and legal side of Comelec."
Due to the recent shift in the academic calendar, the Central Comelec also included a clearer timetable of the election calendar in the newest election’s code. Instead of the specific dates scheduled per month as stated in the USEC 2011, the new election calendar will now use general administrative calendars.
“We don’t want the code to be too esoteric that might discriminate ordinary Thomasians from understanding the law," Naguit said. "We have specific articles for calendars, and all the details regarding complaints, sanctions. It’s our way of engaging the people."
The 2011 USEC was promulgated by batch 2011-2012 under then Central Comelec chairperson Glen Camille Buendia, Central Student Council president Randolph Ian Clet, Central Board speaker Joel Vergara Jr. and Secretary General Ethan Bautista.
Once approved by the Central Board, the Central Comelec plans to implement the new code in the next academic year.
