Botong Isko: University Student Council elections

Third update: February 28, 11:35 p.m.

ALYANSA dominates 2014 USC elections; independents top councilor race

By Celine Isabelle Samson and Dexter Cabalza

Alyansa ng mga Mag-aaral para sa Panlipunang Katwiran at Kaunlaran (ALYANSA) dominated the 2014 University Student Council (USC) elections, clinching the chair and vice chair positions and seven of the 12 council seats Thursday.

Arjay Mercado from ALYANSA won as USC chairperson with 5,145 votes. Student Alliance for the Advancement of Democratic Rights in UP (STAND UP) standard bearer Erra Mae Zabat ranked second with 3,034 votes, followed by Nagkakaisang Iskolar para sa Pamantasan at Sambayanan (KAISA) bet Carla Gonzales with 1,416 votes.

Mercado broke the record of the highest number of votes earned by a chairperson, currently held by outgoing USC chair Ana Alexandra Castro who got 4,944 votes in 2013.

ALYANSA vice chairperson candidate John Paul “JP” Delas Nieves obtained 5,175 votes and bested STAND UP and KAISA candidates Neefa Macapado and Ram Tomaneng with 3,894 and 766 votes, respectively.

Independent candidate Jethro David topped the list of USC councilors, garnering 4,286 votes. Fellow independent candidate Raymond Rodis ranked second with 4,136 votes.

ALYANSA continued its reign, clinching seven councilor seats and seven college representative posts. STAND UP got three councilor seats and five college representatives in the USC.

Only four college representatives were won by last year’s dominant party KAISA. For the top posts, more abstain votes were tallied than those earned by KAISA’s standard bearers, a 180-degree turn from the party’s performance in last year’s polls.

Meanwhile, all three independent candidates running for college representative posts gained seats in the USC representatives from Arki, Law, and NCPAG.

Clerical error found, KAISA Punzalan’s councilorship to be nullified

During the announcement the USC election results last Thursday (Feb. 27), Reg Punzalan of KAISA was proclaimed as one of the newly elected USC councilors.

A correction was set to be made Friday when it was found that Punzalan’s Halalan votes had been confused with that for ALYANSA namesake Reg Rodriguez, placing Punzalan as the sixth most voted councilor.

STAND UP’s Mench Tilendo will now be taking up the twelfth councilor seat, with Punzalan moving down to 24^th out of 33 candidates.

According to Office of Student Activities (OSA) coordinator Dr. Rommel Rodriguez, the OSA immediately convened the University Student Electoral Board (USEB) to tell them about the situation. USEB then notified the concerned parties for immediate correction.

OSA is set to release the final notice on Monday, as they wait for the USEB’s signatures before the document is submitted to the chancellor.

OSA also cleared that what happened was a clerical error and was not due to the electronic voting system.

The USEB recorded a 48.07-percent voter turnout, a slight decrease from last year’s 48.4 percent.

UP Diliman had a total number of 24,188 eligible voters, including the cross-registrants fron UP Tacloban who had a 90% voter turnout, having 108 students voting from 120.

A special election was also held for graduate students, mostly from the College of Education last Saturday. A total of 184 graduate students cast their votes earlier.

Of the 24,188 voting population, only 11,626 voted on Thursday, February 27.

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USC Chairperson votes:
ARJAY MERCADO (ALYANSA) – 5145
Erra Zabat (STAND UP) – 3034
Carla Gonzalez (KAISA) – 1416
Abstain – 2032

USC Vice Chairperson votes:
JP DELAS NIEVES (ALYANSA) – 5175
Neefa Macapado (STAND UP) – 3894
Ram Tomaneng (KAISA) – 766
Abstain – 1791

COUNCILORS:

1. Jethro David (Independent) – 4,286
2. Raymond Rodis (Independent) – 4,136
3. V Manalo (ALYANSA) – 3,743
4. Mico Pangalangan (STAND UP) – 3,557
5. Reg Rodriguez (ALYANSA) – 3,357

~~Reg Punzalan(KAISA) – 3,340~~ The University Student Electoral Board to nullify Punzalan’s seat due to clerical error. Tilendo moves up to claim a councilor seat.

6. Tolits Tanaka (ALYANSA) – 3,185
7. Walter Tamayo (ALYANSA) – 3,003
8. Carl Santos (STAND UP) – 2,962
9. Pola Lamarca (ALYANSA) – 2,923
10. AJ Montesa (ALYANSA) – 2,779
11. Jamie Bawalan (ALYANSA) – 2,726
12. Mench Tilendo (STAND UP) – 2,462

13. Joey Loristo (STAND UP) – 2,460
14. Kath Zarate (STAND UP) – 2, 405
15. Mel Delmoro (STAND UP) – 2,294
16. Nat Malit (KAISA) – 2,288
17. Ivan Mendoza (STAND UP) – 2,171
18. Ian Bondoc (STAND UP) – 2,141
19. Flo Betancor (STAND UP) – 2,129
20. Yvonne Amper (STAND UP) – 1,990
21. Red Maines (KAISA) – 1,936
22. Jay Han Hernandez (ALYANSA) – 1,841
23. Dren Alcain (ALYANSA) – 1,771
24. Reg Punzalan (KAISA) – 1,655
25. Alexa Nacional (KAISA) – 1,619
26. Roni Tababa (STAND UP) – 1,565
27. Jas Mendoza (KAISA) – 1,511
28. Zaira Baniaga (KAISA) – 1,345
29. KM Martinez (KAISA) – 1,185
30. Mar Carlos (KAISA) – 952
31. Danj Lopez (KAISA) – 938
32. Paulo Sotto (KAISA) – 900
33. Bryan Dacanay (KAISA) – 659