April 16, 2015, 3:02 p.m. – STUDENTS at the newly
established Institute of Information and Computing Sciences (IICS) have
rejected a proposed constitution that would have established a separate student
council for the newly established academic unit.

A resolution promulgated last April 7 by the Engineering
Commission on Elections stated that no article in the proposed IICS
constitution gained approval from the students during a plebiscite.

“It [was] resolved by the Engineering Comelec that the
drafted IICS constitution be rejected. Hence, the constitution needs to be
revised,” the resolution read.

The constitution failed to meet the necessary 1,163 votes
out of the total 2,324 IICS students in an online plebiscite from March 16 to
30. A majority vote or 51 percent of the entire IICS student population was
needed to ratify the new constitution.

As a result, the Institute will not be able to hold special
elections by the end of the school year, which would have elected a separate
student council.

The drafting of a new IICS constitution was pushed by the
Central Board of Student Auxiliary (CBSA), which consists of all Engineering
and Information and Computing Sciences class presidents, following the
separation of the Institute from the Faculty of Engineering last year.

“The Engineering Comelec suggests that the CBSA [review] the
drafted constitution, amend necessary provisions and polish its articles
immediately,” the resolution read.

The Engineering Comelec will head all student council
elections both in the Faculty of Engineering and in the IICS for this year’s
elections.

However, Engineering Comelec Chairperson Hannah de Leon said
the IICS still needs to have special elections after the draft constitution is
amended.

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“We will meet again with the [IICS] administration and CBSA
to set a deadline, and probably next semester, they can have their special
elections,” De Leon said in a text message.

De Leon added that the IICS would no longer be under the
Engineering student council since plans for a separate student council were
underway and were just awaiting approval. Arianne F. Merez

1 COMMENT

  1. It was really tough and tedious when a proposed constitution needs to be ratified. I remember back in 2006 when we need to ratify the amended constitution for Engineering. I was part of Engineering Comelec back then and became the Chairman from 2006-2007. As explained, votes should be at least 50.01% in order for the constitution to be ratified and be used by the new institution. This is just the start of the long journey for the IICS and hoping that they will have this constitution ratified in no time.

    Elijah A. Bringas
    Chairman, Engineering Comelec 2006 -2007

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