26/05/2023
ICYMI: Here are the results of the recently concluded Halalan UPD 2023.
For the second consecutive year, an all blue slate dominates the UP College of Education Student Council (UP CESC) as all of Sikhay Eduk's candidates win unopposed for a second time.
The roster of officers for UP CESC A.Y. 2023-2024 is led by former Education and Research Councilor and Chairperson-elect, Gino Cabigao, and former Students with Additional Needs Councilor and Vice Chairperson-elect, Juju Matienzo.
Announcements are yet to be posted regarding the filling of the vacancies in the four (4) remaining councilor positions.
Meanwhile, for the first time in two decades, no standard bearers are elected in the University Student Council (USC) as abstentions win over the running candidates for both positions. This is despite UP ALYANSA being the sole political party running for office after the last minute withdrawal of STAND UP's standard bearer candidates due to controversial cases of sexual harrassment arising within the said party.
Moreover, only eight (8) councilor positions are filled, all by independent candidates, as abstention votes also outnumber the rest of the running councilors' votes.
Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Louise Jashil Sonido recognizes that "the majority of abstention votes in the [Chair, Vice Chair, and four (4) Councilor positions] shows that there is no sufficient basis to declare the candidates superseded by abstentions as valid, elected representatives of the student body. As such, the USEB has proclaimed only those candidates clearly elected at-large."
VC Sonido, along with the rest of the University Student Electoral Board (USEB), also grants the duly elected Councilors and College Representatives the autonomy to decide how the vacancies in the USC shall be filled so long as the procedures are "consistent with the spirit of the Election Code and the USC Constitution and By-Laws, and subject to the approval of the USEB, after they are sworn into office."
For the time being, the two (2) highest voted councilors, Beatriz Pineda and Katrina Maria Batac, shall serve as Interim Chairperson and Interim Vice Chairperson, respectively, until the vacancies are filled.
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