Independent Laban Kabataan-allied bets and UP Alyansa ng mga Mag-aaral para sa Panlipunang Katwiran at Kaunlaran (UP ALYANSA) seek to lead the next University Student Council (USC).
As the 2024 special elections resulted in an understaffed UP Diliman USC, 11 candidates vying for standard bearer and councilor posts vow to represent and lead the UP community in the face of intensifying military intrusion in campus, commercialization of academic spaces and the rift between Marcos and Duterte clans.
The standard bearers
Running unopposed for the council’s top post is incumbent USC Councilor Joaquin Buenaflor, who is under the Laban Kabataan Coalition (LKC).
The said alliance consists of UP Diliman-based national democratic mass organizations including Kabataan Party-list (KPL) and League of Filipino Students (LFS), aiming to put forward “genuine, militant, and nationalist” candidates.
LKC has underscored that it is “no precursor to forming a political party,” but merely a “coalition of mass organizations sharing a common four-point agenda.” This includes campaigns for increased education funding, alternative politics, mass-oriented policies and genuine student representation.
Under the LKC banner, Buenaflor promises to promote open communication, and address issues related to gender, fraternity-related violence and insufficient dormitory slots.
Buenaflor served as SALiGAN sa CSSP’s chairperson in 2024, a local party formerly under the Student Alliance for the Advancement of Democratic Rights in UP (STAND UP) in the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy (CSSP).
He is joined by vice chair candidate Darlene Joyce Cerico, who, according to a Collegian report, served as STAND UP’s campaign manager in 2021—the year the alliance won by a landslide.
However, due to “physical and mental health” concerns, Cerico did not attend any of the university-wide forums leading up to this year’s campus polls.
While unable to share her specific platforms, Cerico stressed her “unwavering faith” in her coalition’s four-point.
Up against Cerico is UP ALYANSA’s Chloe Angeli Antonio. Last year, she previously ran for chairperson in the National College of Public Administration and Governance (NCPAG) Student Council under STAND UP NCPAG but lost.
Responding to a question regarding her party switch during the On the Spot forum held on May 9, Antonio said, “Tayo ay nasa UP ALYANSA sa ngayon dahil […] nandun pa rin naman ang ating prinsipyo. Wala tayong pinagtutunggali dahil in UP ALYANSA, we continuously become open to the perspectives of others.”
Antonio secured a USC councilor seat in the November 2023 by-elections, where many leading candidates were also formerly affiliated from STAND UP. However, she resigned four months later due to “cliques among members of the USC” that fostered an “unfavorable environment,” she said in a Collegian report.
The councilor aspirants
Aside from Buenaflor and Cerico, seven independent councilor candidates run under the LKC’s slate.
Among the alliance’s candidates is Alyssa Alano, incumbent LFS Diliman chairperson, who proposes to revive the Dorm Council, a committee responsible for forwarding dormer concerns to the council and other relevant offices.
The Alliance of Concerned Dormitories UP Diliman, previously the main platform for raising university housing issues, has been inactive since 2018.
Meanwhile, incumbent CSSP SC Councilor Janina Alfonso aims to provide immediate financial and legal aid to students facing harassment or imprisonment through USC flagship events like the annual UP Fair.
College of Arts and Letters (CAL) student and activist Amanda Echanis, who has been detained for the past five years due to trumped-up charges, campaigned virtually. She plans to organize cultural events—such as book fairs, art exhibits and street theater—to create “space and opportunities to embody [patriotism] and culture” within the university.
If elected, Echanis would become the first political prisoner to win a USC post. She said she would forge connections with various culture and arts formations across the campus, given her inability to join on-ground campaigns.
Also running for councilor under LKC is Fatima Mendoza, the current Secretary-General of KPL Diliman Chapter, who is pushing for the full implementation of the Diliman Gender Office Guidelines on affirming transgender and gender nonconforming students’ names, pronouns, and titles.
Vying for a councilor seat as well is incumbent CAL Representative to the USC Nimra Gonzales, who is part of STAND UP’s executive board. He has been a vocal critic of the university admin throughout the campaign, and laments the absence of a full USC a “reflection of systemic oppression.”
From the College of Engineering, incumbent SC Chair Vherwyn Nuñez has drawn attention after expressing agreement with reservations on the opening of ILO Café, unlike his stalemates who opposed the project.
The café, which opened last month, now occupies a space that previously belonged to Engineering-based student organizations, according to a Collegian report.
Nuñez clarified that he opposes commercialization in the university, but sees the café as a potential alternative canteen, especially since Melchor Hall, which houses most students in the college, currently has only one.
Also on the slate is councilor candidate Rommer Publico, this year’s Propaganda Head for UP Fair REV Music Festival. He advocates for crafting a comprehensive situationer on grassroots sectors to raise student awareness and encourage them to “stand up, serve, organize, and be organized towards the masses.”
Meanwhile, the blue party’s sole councilor bet is Ynigo Panghulan from NCPAG. Panghulan’s platforms focus on addressing heat index concerns, including the implementation of a threshold policy to “set standards for class suspensions or alternative learning set-ups.”
Panghulan, alongside fellow UP ALYANSA bet Antonio, seeks to revisit UP Fair policies, proposing lower ticket prices, stronger advocacy components, and increased participation of local vendors—intending to bring the event “closer to its roots in activism and community-building.”
Differing views on ‘abstain’
During this year’s CSiyasat forum, Gonzales argued that the abstain vote does “not represent an actual person,” adding that the absence of genuine representation may hamper the student body’s efforts to lobby campaigns.
Buenaflor has also remained consistent with advocating for the removal of abstain vote in the ballot. In last year’s CSiyasat forum for the 2024 by-elections, he agreed on it with reservations, while he reiterated his stances in recent election forums.
He said the student body “cannot afford to have no representatives who can face the administration.”
In the 2024 special polls, Buenaflor narrowly won over abstain by just 118 votes, surpassing his fellow slate members in the 10-point agenda coalition.
UP ALYANSA bets, on the other hand, consider the abstain vote as a valid choice. Antonio said the abstain vote derives from “growing distrust towards councils.”
For her, student organizations can still step up and represent student concerns should abstentions prevail in this year’s elections.
Solidarity amid differing stances
Recent campus election forums have revealed LKC independent candidates and UP ALYANSA’s opposing stances on national and university issues.
During the recent CSiyasat forum, Antonio agreed on the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act (IPRA) despite several IP rights groups’ calls to scrap the law and its implementing body, the National Commission for Indigenous Peoples, for enabling land-grabbing, commercialization of ancestral lands and state-sanctioned human rights violations.
Asked to clarify her stance, Antonio said she supports ensuring there is a law that “upholds the welfare and rights of the IP community.” However, LKC councilor candidate Nimra Gonzales called IPRA a “deceptive” and “unconsultative” law, pushing for a more inclusive alternative.
Antonio also stood out as the sole contender to disagree with reservations on boycotting DiliMall. In contrast, all LKC candidates agreed with reservations on the call to boycott. Currently, at least five commercial establishments operate on campus.
Despite their differing positions, yesterday’s KilatIsko forum of UP Political Society revealed that all candidates, regardless of alliance, said they would vote for Buenaflor for chair.
Upon being asked if forming coalitions among independent candidates defeats the purpose of running independently, all candidates objected to the prompt–though some expressed reservations. Ultimately, they also agreed that the current structure of USC is not representative enough, including some who had reservations with the statement as well.
Around 23.69% of eligible voters have casted their ballots as of 7 a.m. today, according to the UP Office of Student Projects and Activities.
Voting lines are still open until tonight, 7 p.m.
