The University Student Election Board (USEB) verified the ratification of the Amaranth Charter through an official certification posted Friday, November 25, after tallying the results of the plebiscite held on November 23.
With an overwhelming majority of 3,840 “yes” votes out of the 4,536 casted, the election board concluded that more than two-thirds of the studentry involved in the plebiscite, held during the General Student Assembly, consented to the validation of the Charter, which is enough for its ratification to push through.
Through this approval, the Amaranth will proceed to identify as the university’s official student media organization and will continue to serve the studentry by creating and publishing journalistic works and creative media productions across print and digital platforms.
“This will serve as a contract between the publication staff and the students—where the students put their trust on the staff to be their objective voice at all times and the staff promises to fulfill the oath to be the eyes, ears, and conscience of the studentry,” the Charter states.
Furthermore, the ratification establishes Amaranth to be a media organization that is autonomous from the university administration and supreme student council, upholds press freedom, and commits to a responsible campus press to preserve the students’ rights to be well-informed and socially aware in accordance to the mandate stipulated in R.A. 7079 or the Campus Journalism Act of 1991.
The Amaranth Editorial Board and staff see this as an affirmation of the Viscan community to its core value of defending the truth and standing by it.
“The ratification of the Amaranth Charter has long been overdue. With its recent ratification, I believe it fully legitimizes Amaranth as the official student media organization of VSU and is bounded by policies and publication functions to its stakeholders. The ratified Amaranth Charter would also serve as the mechanism for all staff members to fulfill their duties and responsibilities as shepherds of truth in the university. As a student media organization, having to ratify a charter is indeed a small win for campus press freedom,” said Amaranth Executive Editor Marielle Angelica Ogaya.
During the charter presentation, Amaranth Executive Editor Marielle Angelica Ogaya and Managing Editor Xavier John Villaruel also announced the upcoming investigative reports concerning university issues, new issue of its Literary and Art Folio, and its magazine.