THE CENTRAL BOARD has appointed officers in charge of the seven offices of the Central Student Council (CSC) Executive Board, tasking them to execute the functions of their respective offices until the next elections.
In a resolution released on Aug. 28, the Central Board, composed of presidents from local student councils (LSCs), distributed its members across the CSC executive offices to serve as interim officers.
The officers in charge are as follows:
- Office of the President: John Bautista (College of Architecture Student Council), Jose Domingo (Medicine Student Council), and Desiree Rivera (Engineering Student Council).
- Office of the Vice President: Kevin Crisolo (Artlets Student Council), Kirsten Hiwatig (Senior High School Student Council), and John Tubon (Institute of Physical Education and Athletics Student Council).
- Office of the Secretary: Mark Alpas (Commerce and Business Administration Student Council), Leah Reyes (College of Education Student Council), Jhon Sioson (Theological Society), and Gavinwill Uy (Faculty of Pharmacy Student Council).
- Office of the Treasurer: Jerlhynne Andres (College of Fine Arts and Design Student Council), Michelle Cudo (Conservatory of Music Student Council), and Juan Dimatulac (Junior High School Student Council).
- Office of the Auditor: Manuel Marcon IV (AMV College of Accountancy Student Council) and Kristahn Zoleta (Nursing Central Board of Students).
- Office for Public Relations: Earl Isidro (College of Information and Computing Sciences Student Council), Karyll Macalincag (College of Tourism and Hospitality Management Student Council), Sean Nagar (Faculty of Philosophy Students’ Forum), and Ehrine Santos (Education High School Student Council).
- Office of the Chief of Staff: Kevin Escosar (College of Science Student Council) and Maria Pecson (College of Rehabilitation Sciences Student Council).
“By assigning the Central Board as the duly appointed Officers in Charge of the (CSC) Executive Board, the weight of the role of the Executive Board will be distributed to the members of the Central Board while giving them a more streamlined approach to addressing local matters and concerns,” the resolution read.
The appointments came on the back of the withdrawal of all seven CSC Executive Board candidates in March, citing various issues such as censorship in campus media, red-tagging, suppression of democratic rights, and a bureaucratic system of approving student activities.
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Because of the vacancies the withdrawal left, the Central Commission on Elections (Comelec) announced in April that members of the Central Board were to take on the roles and duties of the Executive Board until a regular election is conducted at the beginning of Academic Year (AY) 2024-2025.
This was in line with Article 11 Section 6 of the CSC Constitution, which states “In case of vacancy in all the positions in the executive board, the central board shall take over and assume the functions of the executive and the central board until the members of the executive board shall have been elected and qualified.”
READ MORE: EXPLAINER: What happens next to the CSC?
The five Central Board officers voted on the designation of officers in charge on June 24.
Central Board speaker John Bautista, who was appointed one of the interim officers at the CSC Office of the President, said the appointment of multiple officers in charge was aimed at evenly distributing the workload among the board members.
“Because it would be unfair for someone to carry the burden alone, and they also have (LSC) responsibilities. So that’s our vision…to hopefully mellow the weight and distribute it equally,” he told the Varsitarian.
The Central Comelec earlier said that regular CSC elections will be held when the final list of voters has been confirmed after enrollment, which ended Aug. 28 for Term 1 of AY 2024-2025. with reports from Fernando Pierre Marcel B. Dela Cruz, Fritz Nathan A. Diaz, Marco Luis D. Beech, and Ella Mae A. Sison
