THIS YEAR’S Central Student Council (CSC) elections won’t be held until November, with the postponement attributed by the Central Commission on Elections (Comelec) to class suspensions.
In a memorandum dated Oct. 14 but released Oct. 19, the Central Comelec announced that the election period, initially set for Oct. 21 to 26, would now be from Nov. 11 to 16.
The postponement came after UST and other schools in Manila and Pasay suspended classes on Oct. 14 and 15 due to the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction.
The suspension coincided with the planned start of in-person campaigning, which was originally set for Oct. 14 to 19. CSC candidates will now have until Oct. 20 to campaign exclusively online. They will have until Nov. 9 to campaign in-person and online.
A moratorium will be observed from Oct. 28 to Nov. 3 due to the Undas break at UST.
RELATED: Onsite campaigning makes return to CSC polls
Also rescheduled was the Tagisan, the mandatory debate for CSC candidates, which was moved to Nov. 9 from Oct. 19, the day the Central Comelec released the updated schedule.
The canvassing of votes and proclamation of new CSC officers will take place on Nov. 16 instead of Oct. 26.
The CSC Executive Board elections will have only two candidates: medical biology junior Meckia Villanueva, running for secretary, and legal management sophomore Annie Agon, who is vying for public relations officer.
This will mark the first student council elections in over a year, following the cancellation of the April elections due to the mass withdrawal of candidates. Ella Mae A. Sison
