By Ishia Eleanor F. Marquez

Featuring workshops for legislative and parliament procedures, the fifth Far Eastern University (FEU) Model Congress (FMC) officially commenced its first session, with the theme ‘FEU Model Congress: Guardians of Today,’ at the FEU Mini Auditorium earlier today, May 18. 

FMC aims to hone Tamaraw delegates’ legislative skills through dialogues within the University under different ‘pillars’ each year. 

All proposed resolutions will be grounded on the said pillars, intended to address ongoing University-wide and national concerns.

In this year’s FMC, representatives were chosen through ‘The Five Pillars,’ including equality, justice, truth, care, and participation. 

The speakers invited for the first day of discussions were Department of Trades and Industry Legislative Affairs Office former trade industry development analyst Isabelle Cebu and Ateneo Human Rights Center resident intern Kristine Marquez.

Marquez led the workshop for technical writing for University policies, recommending various tips in crafting resolutions that will address the needs of the people. 

Moreover, citing different laws in the national context, the intern explained the importance of policies in maintaining peace and order in the country.

“Laws exist for people to safely function in society… Laws also create a society that will function fairly… Laws ensure that our rights are protected while maintaining order… Laws are inherently designed to improve society as a whole,” Marquez said. 

Furthermore, she noted the importance of laws in serving the marginalized sectors, stating that it is part of the constitution as social justice. 

In light of recent events in the Senate, Marquez emphasized the need to scrutinize legislators by holding them accountable in fulfilling their expected responsibilities to serve the people through laws that are supposed to reflect the public interest.

“Titingnan natin kung ano ‘yung mga pinapasa nila na batas, kung ano ‘yung mga top priority nila [na bill] sa Congress ngayon… Is this really what we see na pina-prioritize nila? Dapat talaga magalit tayo, nandiyan kayo [legislators] to make policies [and] to make laws for us (We should look at the bills that are being passed, what the top priorities are. Is this what they are really prioritizing? We should be angry, because they legislators are there to make policies and to make laws for us)," she remarked. 

Meanwhile, Cebu discussed the parliamentary procedures that will ensure decisions and meetings remain democratic and orderly, including various motions in congress. 

Moreover, she reminded the delegates that the practice of policymaking should be ‘daunting’ as their resolutions will shape the outcomes of the community they represent. 

“The process [of legislation] is scary because the outcome is scary. You can either make or break someone’s life because of what you are doing in legislation,” the former analyst said. 

Despite not being in the Senate or representatives in national-level Congress, Cebu emphasized that student legislators have a significant power to craft resolutions that will be applied in a citywide context.

To apply their learnings in real-life context, the lectures were then followed by the ‘World Café Segment,’ in which delegates were tasked to create a resolution on a specific problem anchored in their respective pillar.

The first day of the workshop concluded by electing the committee representatives for each pillar and the election for congress officers.

With over 300 applicants across campuses, 49 were selected as official delegates in the fifth FMC. 

The seminar will be a four-day event starting from May 18 to 21.

Spearheaded by the FEU College Y Club, the event was in collaboration with the FEU Office of Student Involvement and FEU Institute of Technology Student Coordinating Council.

(Photo by Rian Balagtas/FEU Advocate)