Last July 18, 2015, the Carolinian Circle of Young Diplomats gathered at the Cebu City Social Hall for their first Parliamentary session of the semester. It was a great avenue for the IRFS majors to exercise parliamentary rules and procedures as learned in their PoSc 110N class and for the first years in particular to be exposed to such rules and procedures. The session started with the induction of officers and oath-taking, to officially welcome the new members of parliament. Thereafter a warm message was given by the Head of Track, Atty. Nina Archill F. Capistrano, who sincerely expressed her gratitude and excitement for the overwhelmingly great participation of the IRFS majors – especially those who took the courage and responsibility to enter into parliament. She also made clear her hopes that their participation will not eventually die out, and even mentioned on her “wish list” for all eight ministries of parliament (which hopefully may be accomplished sooner or later).

 

The main agenda of the session was to vote on resolutions passed by ministers of their corresponding committees. Fortunately all ten resolutions have been passed without any objections. One resolution in particular was the Nelson Mandela International Day Commemoration, which happened to fall on the same day as the parliamentary session. This commemoration is for everyone to be reminded of the life of one of the most prominent people in our society, Nelson Mandela, whose advocacy of justice, freedom and equality inspired and touched the lives of many. Despite his tragic death on December 5, 2013, his legacy continues to live on. The Ministry of Information and Communication helped spread awareness through posting of Infographics and relevant videos online. Moreover, copies of the resolutions of the different ministries have also been posted for further information.