MANILA, April 24, 2013—With the election of the Archdiocesan Council of the Student Catholic Action (SCA) last Sunday, leaders from its units in the Archdiocese of Manila are hopeful about the future of the 77-year old student movement.
According to the Cyril Ryan Lituañas, who spoke in behalf of the SCAP National Secretariat, “The election is timely, since this is the first time for many years that a good number of units are present in a gathering.”
On April 21, the following council members were elected: Philippine Normal University (PNU) as Chairperson, De La Salle University (DLSU) as Vice Chairperson, College of the Holy Spirit Manila (CHSM) as Secretary, San Beda College (SBC) as Treasurer, and Centro Escolar University (CEU) as Public Relations Officer (PRO). The SCAP Operations Manual explains that the council “represents the movement to their respective Arch/diocesan Youth Commission.”
SCAns see this new movement as indicative of a new spirit that will energize an organization that has seen flagging enthusiasm because of a lack of coordination among college units.
Paolo Pastrana of PLM said shortly after the election, “I hope for the unity of all SCA units in Manila, that we may feel the movement under one banner, Christ.”
The council’s role remains crucial as it “determines the particular thrust of SCA for a given year, gather reports on the state of the various units, help plan and evaluate special projects in the arch/diocesan level.”
The election was done on the last day of a three-day summer training held April 19 – 21, which was attended by different college unit leaders, as well as a representative from the public high school units. SCA leaders also presented their unit plans for the school year 2013-2014 during the three-day gathering.
Facilitated by the SCA-Philippines (SCAP) National Secretariat, the Basic Orientation Workshop is the third phase before becoming a full-fledged SCA member.
The training was held at the Bahay-SCAn Formation Center, Tagaytay City [Mark Vertido/Nirva’ana Ella Delacruz]