Our Lady of Mercy Academy Taysan, Batangas

Student Activity Council Proposed Plan for Elections 2010 The election process would be changed from appointment of nominees to procedural application of certificates of candidacy. The following are to support the proposal: The school, in its quest for excellence, must assume the position of forming leaders, as such, student-leaders need to be bounded by the desire to lead in order to yield good, if not, better results. Students must be trained in making sound decisions themselves Between the concept of free will and determinism, free will falls to be the most important human capacity Studies had it that intelligence does not correlate with the ability to lead, thus, the selection of leaders must be open for every average student with the desire to lead The youth of today must be equipped, not just with leadership capacities, but with leadership qualities as well as its concepts, they have to understand the true meaning of a free and democratic process of elections, as well as selection of leaders Since they are at the stage of forming their identities, they have to be allowed to form their identities themselves other than steer them to be what others would want him to become Initiative follows when free will is present; and when there is initiative, a greater tendency to be responsible tends to occur, thus, leadership is gained PROCEDURES Phase 1 PLANNING The SAC officers together with the SAC adviser will convene in order to lay out plans for the upcoming elections inclusive of its own procedures The rationale, certificate of candidacy and target dates of implementation would be planned as well as the programs and preparations needed therein The approval from the school principal would be sought SAC officers in their senior year would assume the position of COMELEC together with selected seniors

Phase 2 FILING OF CERTIFICATES OF CANDIDACY SAC officers would campaign for the new rules of election process in every way they can Students with the desire to lead are invited to file their candidacy either individually or in group/party Interested students are requested to file for candidacy with their desired position and submit such, including the recommendation forms from the adviser, a teacher and the parent, to the SAC Officers with the presence of the SAC Adviser in the Guidance Center The filing of certificate of candidacy is still bounded by the rules and due process, thus, upon submission the submittee would still be identified as aspirant not

until the announcement of official candidates where the submittee would then be identified as official candidate Phase 3 SCREENING PROCEDURES AND ANNOUNCEMENT OF OFFICIAL CANDIDATES The screening procedure would occur in the span of 4 days right after the day of the deadline of the filing of certificate of candidacy The screening procedure would occur inclusive of, but not limited to, examination of forms as well as recommendations from the advisers and teachers. Process of selection The forms would be examined and assured to be free from bias and fraud The recommendations would be examined as well and follow up might occur The aspirants would be called upon every now and then to give them updates about their application and inform them about the procedure and clarify to them the changes that might happen the aspirants would be called upon for a general assembly prior to the announcement of the official candidates The screening procedure for official candidacy is bounded by the rules imposed by the student activity council and reflected in its by-laws to wit: o Candidates must be bona fide students o Of good academic standing with a general average of 80 and above and without any failing grade during the 3rd grading period of the current school year o Resident of the school for at least one academic year prior to the filing of certificate of candidacy o Must be of good moral character as reflected in the recommendations from the adviser, teacher and parent The announcement of official candidates would be held right after the screening procedure and would occur in public. Phase 4 CAMPAIGN PERIOD The campaign period would last for 5 school days as reflected in its by-laws The campaign materials has to be budgeted and materials to be used, consumable or not, must be limited to P30 (thirty pesos) per candidate A 2 hour meeting de avance would be held 2 school days prior to the election day, the SAC officers would prepare a program for such The day prior to the election day would serve as a preparation day for the COMELEC Phase 4 ELECTION DAY The election day would occur on the day of all levels examination day A 100% attendance and casting of votes is required from the freshmen, sophomore and junior year The COMELEC are to be given individual assignments to assure the perfect attendance, the smooth flow of elections as well as the counting of votes The election precinct would be open at 7:00 am and would be closed at 2:30 pm Counting of votes would occur right after Phase 5 ANNOUNCEMENT OF WINNERS

The elected officers would be announced in public the day after the election they and they are to convene together with the outgoing officials, the SAC Adviser and the school principal immediately after, whenever possible to decide for the committee heads and possible projects

Prepared by: SHARIE V. MANALO SAC President MRS. EMELITA C. GUPIT SAC Adviser Noted: Ms. ISABELITA C. BAES Principal

Approved: Rev. Fr. NORMAN G. BANZUELA, JR. OSJ