THE CENTRAL Commission on Elections (Comelec) has raised the possibility of the lone aspirant for secretary assuming the Central Student Council (CSC) presidency, amid the lack of candidates for the highest student office.
Central Comelec Chairman Franz Soriano also told the Varsitarian that a special election will follow for unfilled CSC Executive Board positions.
Medical biology junior Meckia Villanueva is the lone secretary candidate this year. The only other CSC aspirant is legal management sophomore Annie Agon, who is running for public relations officer.
“Most likely, it will be her (Villanueva), but that still depends on their arrangement on how they will distribute the positions among themselves,” Soriano said in a mix of English and Filipino. “But as the highest officer or the closest to the president, she will be the one to assume office.”
“For the other positions that no one filed for, we will hold a special election right after the regular elections in October,” he added.
This mechanism follows Article 11, Section 3 of the CSC Constitution, which reads: “In case of vacancy in the offices of the president and vice president, the secretary shall act as president and the Comelec shall immediately call a special election.”
For other vacant positions, the CSC Constitution mandates the council to nominate members of local student council executive boards, from which three candidates will be selected.
Secretary bet ‘willing’
Villanueva said she was willing to step up if necessary.
“With the vacancy [in] other positions, there is a huge chance of having an altered system of the council’s functionality and decision-making process,” she said.
Agon attributed the low turnout of CSC aspirants to UST’s “bureaucratic” system that had led to a waning interest in student politics among Thomasians.
“Thomasians are losing interest in student elections and other political activities, and even taking leadership roles, [because of] the bureaucratic administration system and bad experiences inside the University,” she told the Varsitarian.
Agon said the lack of candidates and resulting vacancies in the CSC should prompt revisions to the CSC Constitution.
“Updating and revising the CSC Constitution is essential to ensure there are clear procedures and solutions for these scenarios,” she said. “Given that our current constitution is too old, [it] no longer reflects the concrete conditions in our University.”
In the past, the vice presidency was the highest student office left vacant due to the lack of candidates. The other elected CSC officers proceeded with their terms in 2019 and 2022 despite the absence of a vice president.
The University-wide elections are scheduled from Oct. 21 to 26. Ella Mae A. Sison with reports from Janica Kate J. Buan and Carlo Jose H. Ruga