COA appointed officers in the positions that remained vacant after its run-off elections on February 4 to 6. These are the appointed officers.
• Chief of Staff: Diana Grace Galindez (III AB Comm)
• Vice President (VP) for Organizational Research and Development: Jemika Kathryn Soledad (II AB PoS)
• VP for Special Projects: Selene Elizabeth Uy (III AB Comm)
• Health and Environment Cluster Head: Ralph Allan Aguinaldo (III BS HSc)
As of press time, COA is still looking for an officer to fill the position of Health and Environment Cluster Secretary-Treasurer.
Abstain won over the Executive Board positions VP for Special Projects and VP for Organizational Research and Development on February 6, the last day of COA’s run-off elections. No one ran for Chief of Staff and Environment Cluster Head and Secretary-Treasurer at that time.
The run-off elections, however, were able to fill the rest of the positions initially won by abstain during the first elections on January 23.
These are the officers who won in the run-off elections.
• Business Cluster Head: Julio Ingco III (II BS Mgt)
• Inter-cultural Relations Cluster Secretary-Treasurer: Jana Kristel Baluyot (III AB Eco)
• Issue and Policy Analysis Cluster Secretary-Treasurer: Kenneth Isaiah Abante (I BS ME)
• Media and the Creative Arts Cluster Head: Ma. Isabela Cristina Reyes (III AB Comm); Secretary-Treasurer: Jesica Perote (III AB Comm)
Official results were released online on the night of the run-off elections.
Careful decisions
“Abstains happen,” said COA Secretary-General Ma. Margarita Lim (IV AB PoS). “It shows that the presidents are really, really thinking about who’s the best person for that position and not just filling it up for formality.”
Media and the Creative Arts (MCA) Cluster Head and Commissioner for Electoral Processes Marie Angela Ordoñez (IV AB Comm) said that they had seen the run-off, or re-elections coming.
“It happens all the time actually,” said Ordoñez. “We really scheduled the run-off elections along with the regular elections.”
Lim said that run-off elections usually happen also because some people need time for discernment.
Perote, who was interviewed by The GUIDON while she was still running for MCA Secretary-Treasurer in the run-off elections, said that she did not run in the regular elections because at that time, she was not able to think of her platform yet.
Yet, for Perote, a run-off election is still better than officers being appointed. “At least the people have a choice, unlike when [the officer] is appointed,” said Perote.
Not fit?
Commissioner for Publications and Promos Joshua Roland Santos (IV AB MEco) said that losing to abstain does not say anything about a person.
“It’s really the judgment of the electorate since we know that they’re really informed, probably, they know for a fact that this person isn’t ready,” Santos added. “I don’t think it says anything bad about a candidate.”
Ordoñez said that losing to abstain reflects the involvement of the presidents in the electoral process.
“I think the presidents really just want to take care of what we’ve achieved this year,” she said. “They’re really careful now with the people they pick, and just voting for abstain just means [that] they think someone else is better for the job at the moment.”
The 47 org presidents voted for the EB candidates during the elections. For the Cluster Board candidates, org presidents belonging to each cluster voted.
