The Governance and Leadership Institute (GLI) of Xavier University, in collaboration with the Office of Student Affairs - Student Activities and Leadership Development (OSA-SACDEV), sponsored a seminar-workshop on basic parliamentary procedure at the Mission and Ministry conference room on September 26.

SACDEV head Richel P Petalcurin shared in her message the key points on the importance of learning the procedure and its application to student organizations’ meetings and decision-making processes.

GLI director and 2nd National Youth Parliament (NYP) alumnus Dr Dixon Q Yasay discussed the value of parliamentary procedure in organizations and leadership development.

“Parliamentary procedure projects are needed to advance the flow of business, ensure that decisions arrive at an open and democratic manner, and protect the rights of minorities,” Yasay said.

“Many organizations use Robert’s Rules of Order as their parliamentary authority, for it has been tested through time and given meaningful experiences and it has been reputed as the Code of Rules and Ethics,” he added.

Subsequently, Alain Roy M Romero, Year of Service volunteer and 10th NYP alumnus, followed the technical aspect of parliamentary procedure and gave a workshop — a mock meeting using Robert's Rules of Order as parliamentary authority — after the technical discussion.

“As early as possible, students and young professionals should have, at the very least, basic knowledge of parliamentary procedure, to participate in and to chair a meeting,” Romero said during the technical discussion.

“Like computer languages that run our gadgets during online social gatherings, parliamentary procedure should be our leadership language during our deliberative gatherings.”