By 4:53pm on February 20, the last day of voting, the Ateneo Commission on Elections (Comelec) was still searching for about 400 votes to complete their 3,000 quota.
The extension to reach quota lasted until about 7:45pm, when 54% of the student population had already voted—making it to the 50% plus 1 mark.
According to partial and unofficial reports released by the Comelec after counting, 3,487 votes were cast during the elections. This figure represents 66% of the voting population.
During the filing of candidacy, candidates were also scarce, leading Comelec to extend the filing of candidacy from February 5 to 11, most especially for the School of Humanities (SOH) Central and School Board (CB and SB) positions. In the end, no one ran for those positions, leading to a failure of elections for the SOH CB and SB.
Twenty-one candidates ran unopposed, including the Top 4.
Coalitions, independents
This is the first time in nearly seven years that political parties are absent in the Sanggu General Elections.
The absence of political parties became apparent at the onset of the election campaign. CB and SB candidates from the School of Social Sciences formed three coalitions, the School of Management formed two coalitions, and the School of Science and Engineering (SOSE) formed one coalition.
Secretary-General elect Kacci Morales (III BS Psy) and Vice President elect Jauro Castro (III AB PoS) both said that the absence of the parties slowed down campaigning for the most part.
“When I was campaigning this past week, some students had no idea it was election time already,” said Castro. Candidates were unable to cover the same ground as they did when campaigning was done under a political party.
SOSE CB Representative-elect Kelvin Du (II BS MIS) added that like Castro, many of the Ateneans he encountered while campaigning didn’t even know when the elections were.
Candidates also pointed out, however, that the new electoral set-up had advantages. According to Morales, elections this year were more personal.
“Some students were no longer bound by the former party,” Castro said. Party tension that has “unwantedly mounted” over the years was not present this year.
Morales agreed with Castro in this observation. Campaign paraphernalia this year was not as plentiful, and there were “minimal cases of siraan, banggaan at bangayan (name-calling, clashing, and fighting), if any at all, this year,” said Castro.
Castro, who was also a presidential candidate during last year’s elections, added that the few candidates, few debates, vacancies, and the lack of opposition in several positions led to a “de-politicized” election atmosphere—a “tradeoff” for the no-party system’s good points.
A young party system
The party system as it is known today began officially on February 2008 when Partido Ibig-Agila (formerly Partido Agila) and Partido Ignacio were first recognized as accredited political parties.
Both parties had also participated in elections prior to accreditation. Partido Agila was introduced in the 2003 general elections while Partido Ignacio began in 2005.
On January 21, both parties signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the current Sanggu, Comelec, and the Student Judicial Court to create a Performance Management System (PMS) with the Office of Student Affairs.
The MOA included an “electoral truce” for both parties for this year’s election. Candidates were not allowed to run under the banner of either party. However, they were allowed to form coalitions.
Reaching quota
The burden fell mostly on Comelec to promote the coming elections. Finance Officer-elect Rob Roque (II BS Ch-MSE) said he expected Comelec to invest their time in promoting the elections.
The approval of the MOA late in January, however, resulted in the late turn-over of the new Comelec commissioners. The current Comelec had less than a month to prepare for the elections.
The campaign and election period was limited to two weeks. Comelec Chief Commissioner Patricia Faye Malabanan (III BS Mgt) said that this was difficult for the Top Four candidates, since their campaign covered the entire Loyola Schools.
Morales was initially worried about reaching quota since vote generation for her position rested solely on her.
She said candidates were very vocal about this concern and thus, worked closely with Comelec to address it. During the last minutes of the final election day, candidates and commissioners went around school, encouraging people to vote.
President-elect Gio Tingson (III AB Philo), in a phone interview, said that the main concern was not whether they would win over Abstain or not—it was simply to make sure people voted.
Great expectations
Roque observed that the Comelec experienced difficulty in adjusting to the sudden absence of the two parties. “I think that they’re at a level where their system is fit for a party system,” he said.
Attendance of the Top Four and CB and SB Mitings de Avance was dismal, barely filling one-fourth of Escaler Hall and Colayco Pavilion, respectively.
“The expectations coming from last year [were really high],” said Morales. She adds that she expected stronger participation from the student body given the “exponential” progress that the Sanggu made during the school year.
Malabanan said that the absence of candidates from the SOH made generating interest in the elections difficult. “We stepped up in promotions. However, we can’t explain why we couldn’t find students [during the voting period],” she said in a mix of English and Filipino.
Integrity
In an interview before the elections, Tingson said Comelec was doing its job well. “As long as Comelec [releases the results accurately and without delay], the integrity of the institution is still there,” he said.
Castro said the Comelec and Sanggu could work more on promoting the elections next school year. “I think that had the elections been promoted earlier or were the efforts to inform people about the elections increased… we would have more candidates and more interest in the elections even without political parties.”
(For more opinion and content regarding the Sanggunian elections, visit http://blueballot09.theguidon.com)
