Page 30 - The Flame

the latter “betrayed” the Artlets community: ness and excellence of a woman.”
the Insignia issue concerning Catiis’s disquali- Catiis stressed that the University-wide
fication in the TSITP, Fernandez’s continuous pageant searches for a “personality” and TIMELINE
exercise of office while being preventively that height is not vital in looking for it.
suspended, and the ABSC’s failure to properly “The title of the pageant says it all. What happened before?
execute its task during an event partnership What you are looking for is the character
with TPSF. that he or she possesses,” she said. THE POLITICAL Science Forum (TPSF)
Ricafrente noted in the supplementary However, according to SOCC President sent Joliv Catiis, senior Political Sci-
complaint that Fernandez continuously exer- Rolando Gatmaitan, the height require- ence student, as their representative
cised his power while being preventively sus- ment has been applied every year since for this year’s Mr. and Ms. Arts and
pended as he “easily consented the resigna- TSITP started Letters pageant held last November.
tion of ABSC Treasurer Mark Gil Quitoy”, even He further said in an online interview Catiis was crowned as Ms. Artlets
without proper reconciliation and auditing of that they had a meeting with Local Student 2011 and was introduced as the Fac-
ulty’s official representative to the
the ABSC fund. He added that Fernandez’s Councils last semester to discuss the re- Search for the Ideal Thomasian Per-
passiveness on the issue further violated pro- quirements for the TSITP along with three sonality (TSITP).
visions of the Artlets constitution regarding other projects. On December 7, applications for
the student body’s right to be informed on “Even if we wanted to, we cannot al- TSITP were given to candidates and
the funds of the student council, and the duty ter the rules in the middle of the contest,” a height requirement of 5’4” for the
of officers to protect the security and integrity Gatmaitan said. female candidates and 5’6” for the
of the ABSC and Artlets community from any males were imposed by the Students
kind of abuse. Quitoy’s resignation Organizations Coordinating Council
However, the Impeachment Tribunal re- Adding up to the above-mentioned is- (SOCC).
fused to tackle the additional grounds for sues, ABSC Treasurer Mark Gil Quitoy re- Catiis, who stands 5’3” was dis-
impeachment against Fernandez and Sazon signed from his post as per ABSC Memo- qualified to join the pageant prompt-
“for [they] still have to review the legal rules” randum-002 issued last January 23, stating ing ABSC External Vice President
concerning them. “personal reasons” as the cause of his res- Rhodel Sazon to tap Ms. Artlets first
As of press time, the impeachment pro- ignation. runner-up Angelica Tingcungco to rep-
ceedings still have not reached any closure. Quitoy, a Political Science junior, noted resent the Faculty in the University-
The BOM will set another public hearing in that his “inability to [balance his] problems wide pageant.
February. from his personal life and responsibilities… On December 8, ABSC President
led to mediocre performance as an officer Julius Fernandez sent a letter to the
Height requirement which delayed some council affairs in the SOCC asking for the lifting of the
The height requirement imposed by the past month[s].” height provision from the rules as
SOCC in organizing TSITP gathered negative “I believe that lack of time, peace of “height is not relevant in…[determin-
reactions from the Artlets community. mind, and strength are not enough rea- ing] a Thomasian personality,” but the
Literature Professor Ferdinand Lopez sons to justify my inability in fully giving latter upheld the rule.
asked why the SOCC discriminates candidates myself to serving the students...[but] I am The TPSF filed an impeachment
based on height. afraid I am no longer fit for the position complaint last December 14 against
“The size of your brain is not proportion- and staying might negatively affect the to- Fernandez and Sazon for violating the
ate to the size of your body,” he said stress- tal performance of the entire council,” he ABSC constitution due to their alleged
“irresponsibility and inefficiency.”
ing that the contest “is looking for an ‘ideal stated in the letter. On December 15, a motion was
personality’.” Fernandez refused to elaborate on it filed by the TPSF for the consideration
Philosophy student Grace Giruha said that due to “sensitive” matters regarding the of their prosecuting team. It also filed
the mechanics for next year’s pageant should issue. a supplementary motion that asked
be refurbished. She sarcasitically wrote on ABSC Public Relations Officer Ace Que- the Board of Majors (BOM) to imme-
ABSC’s Facebook page, “Edi sana sa simula pa bal said in a separate interview that the diately implement the preventive sus-
lang ‘yung pinakamatangkad na contestant council was actually against the resigna- pension on the two officials.
na ang ipinanalo nila kung sa height lang din tion of Quitoy, but ABSC advisers and pro- The BOM then decided to impose
magkakatalo.” fessors Cresencio Doma and Corazon Du- a preventive suspension on Fernandez
Communication Arts student Racine Cas- mawal approved his resignation provided and Sazon as stipulated in Article XII,
tro said that she does not agree with the that “he will pay for the money lost due to Section 4 of the ABSC Constitution.
height requirement as “there is no correlation mishandling of funds” Another motion was filed on Janu-
between height and the purpose of the pag- “He will not graduate until he com- ary 5 by the TPSF for the BOM to con-
eant.” pleted the payment for the lost money,” sider an alternate prosecuting team.
Fernandez also expressed dismay over the Quebal said. A public trial was set on January 30
height requirement, saying that it is not the The Flame tried to get the side of Qui- which resulted to the filing of supple-
right standard to determine true beauty. toy but he did not respond to our queries. mentary impeachment complaints by
“Sino ba ang may karapatang magsabi ng Meanwhile, ABSC Vice President for Lead Prosecutor Jester Ivan Ricafrente
maganda at pangit?” Fernandez asked. “Is Internal Affairs Kathryn Caday, Secretary from the TPSF.
height even a valid standard for beauty?” Patricia Mae Esclabanan, and Public Re- However, the BOM refused to tack-
Meanwhile, Villasis said that height is not lations Officer Ace Dominic Quebal also le the additional grounds against the
proportionate to beauty. resigned from their posts and expressed defendants “for [they] still have to re-
“It is quite ironic considering this institu- their interest to run again in the next ABSC view the legal rules” concerning them.
tion upholds the values of equality [and] jus- elections. The next public hearing is yet to be
tice, but there is discrimination to women The only officer left in the ABSC to han- announced by the BOM who stands
who do not reach that certain height,” Villasis dle its affairs is Auditor Carmela Therese as the impeachment tribunal for this
said. “Height does not equate to the great- Avante. F proceeding.

30 | FLAME