THE NEW Central Student Council (CSC) secretary and public relations officer (PRO) were proclaimed on Nov. 16, ending a months-long vacancy in the Executive Board and an election cycle delayed thrice over.
Medical biology junior Meckia Villanueva will serve as the CSC secretary for Academic Year 2024-2025 after garnering 14,987 votes to win the post. Some 5,212 left their ballots unanswered for the position.
She holds the highest student office in the absence of presidential and vice presidential bets.
“I am extremely grateful for the trust that the Thomasian community has given me in this crucial time,” Villanueva told the Varsitarian after the proclamation.
During the campaign period, Villanueva sought to connect distant UST campuses through initiatives like open University events, and lobbied for easier document processing, especially for community engagement activities.
“Moving forward, we will first get in touch with our fellow newly elected executive board officer, the Central Board, and other offices to align our goals and ideals,” she said. “This is just the beginning.”
READ MORE: Lone secretary bet wants to bridge UST campuses, streamline paperwork
Legal management sophomore Annie Agon was elected CSC PRO with a mandate of 16,564 votes. Non-votes for the position totaled 3,635.
“Excited [ako] na madala sa mas malaking platform ‘yong advocacies, and motived na ipaglaban ang genuine student representation lalo sa darating na special election,” Agon told the Varsitarian.
RELATED: Aspiring student council PRO proposes ‘alternative curriculum,’ community immersion
Central Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chair Franz Soriano announced during the Proklamasyon that the polling body would schedule special elections to fill the positions of president, vice president, treasurer, and auditor.
Soriano earlier told the Varsitarian that Villanueva, as the candidate for the highest student office this year, would most likely act as CSC president despite her proclamation as secretary.
The schedule of the CSC special elections has yet to be determined.
Voter turnout lowest in years
This year’s CSC elections drew the lowest voter turnout in at least 18 years, according to an analysis of elections data conducted by the Varsitarian.
With 20,199 out of 42,941 students casting their votes, the turnout was 47.04%, an 11.75% drop from that recorded in 2023 when 25,595 out of 43,536 Thomasians participated in the polls.
Soriano had said a high voter turnout was not a priority of the Central Comelec.
“Voter turnout is not a priority of the commission,” he told the Varsitarian. “Ang voter turnout is a reflection of mainly one thing — political participation of our students. Political awareness ng students ‘yong voter turnout.”
“It’s not a problem with the elections itself; it’s a problem with the student government system that we have.”
Multiple delays marred the CSC elections this year, which were initially scheduled for October.
READ: Central Comelec extends online voting hours as tech issues delay start of CSC polls
The Central Comelec deferred the polls to Nov. 11 to 16 from Oct. 21 to 26 due to class suspensions. Elections were again called off on the new schedule as classes were suspended on Nov. 11 because of severe tropical storm “Nika.”
Voting failed to push through on Nov. 12 because of technical issues with the electronic voting system. It was resolved only in the afternoon of Nov. 13, leaving Thomasians with just three days to vote.
Even the Proklamasyon itself almost faced cancellation as afternoon classes were suspended on Nov. 16, technically preventing the Central Comelec from accessing UST facilities.
This year’s elections, held after the mass withdrawal of all seven CSC Executive Board candidates in March, also saw the lowest number of aspirants in recent years.
With the election of new CSC Executive Board officers, interim officials from the Central Board will now relinquish their posts.
