THE ATENEO Commission on Elections (COMELEC) released a memorandum on April 13 declaring the closure of the 2016 Sanggunian General Elections due to the withdrawal of candidacies of the remaining three candidates.
COMELEC is the electoral arm of the Ateneo, tasked to oversee the Sanggunian elections, plebiscites, and referenda.
According to the statement, COMELEC has also resolved to forgo a Special Elections with the notion that it may produce the same outcome.
“Conducting Special Elections in the intersession semester would hamper the electoral body’s ability to vote since not all of the student body are required and will enroll for intersession classes,” the statement declared.
For the Constitution
Prior to the cancellation, the student political parties–the Ignatian initiative for Transformative Empowerment (IgnITE) and the Christian Union for Socialist and Democratic Advancement (CRUSADA)–promulgated their declination to field candidates for the 2016 Sanggunian General Elections through social media.
Both statements indicated the importance of finalizing the new constitution of the Loyola Schools’ student government as the primary rationale for their declination.
IgnITE released their statement on April 5, declaring the political party’s decision to refrain from fielding candidates for the General Elections to redirect focus to the ratification of the new constitution.
According to the statement, IgnITE “believes that now is the time to give voters the chance to familiarize themselves with the proposed constitution and to vote on it based on their views and principles.”
On April 7, CRUSADA released their statement indicating their stance on the issue, saying, “Until the constitution is finalized an election will only be counter-productive.”
IgnITE President Ele Gealogo contended that the cancellation was anticipated given that both political parties were not participating in the elections to support the Ateneo Constitutional Convention (ConCon).
ConCon is the student group tasked to mobilize and facilitate the amendment of the 2005 Loyola Schools’ Constitution.
Gealogo believed that “the lack of candidates is an embodiment of our statement from those interested saying we can no longer support this constitution and will be focusing on passing the new proposed constitution.”
“No doubt, it’s a risk on our part. but we all stand still committed to the Sanggunian to a new and better constitution for a new and better Sanggunian,” he added.
Leading to futility
COMELEC Chief Commissioner Patrice Gabito relayed to The GUIDON that, due to the presence of 11 independent candidates, with one running for Course Representative and another for School Chairperson, COMELEC had agreed to conduct a 5-day election proper.
On April 5, COMELEC released a memorandum announcing that the number of candidates had dwindled to three, thereby reducing the election time period to three days.
With only three candidates left, all vying for the position of Block Representative, the Ateneo Student Judicial Court (SJC) received a petition for an injunction on April 8 from health sciences senior Gibeau Soliman against COMELEC and the memoranda on the 2016 Sanggunian General Elections on the grounds of misrepresentation.
The SJC announced the case to the public, mentioning that the petitioner also requested for an issuance of a Temporary Restraining Order, to which COMELEC replied, stating that it would hinder preparations for the General Elections and the service hours of the scholars, inciting conflict with the Office of Admission and Aid.
The petition elaborated that given the possibility of the remaining three candidates comprising the Sanggunian and assuming the responsibility of being the student body’s main governing authority, “to transfer the authority, privileges, and power of the Sanggunian to these representatives will be misrepresentative of the students.”
Soliman was denied the restraining order due to the lack of merit sufficient to lead to its issuance, as well as factoring the possible repercussions faced by COMELEC if the order was granted.
COMELEC issued a reply to address the petition for an injunction, asserting that it is within the mandate of the constitution that they conduct General Elections and that they have already made the preparations to do so.
The SJC promulgated their final decision of rejecting Soliman’s petition for an injunction on April 12, on the grounds of the possibility of misrepresentation being a mere speculation without substantial evidence.
According to their promulgation, SJC shall only grant the injunction provided that the petitioner “requires a relief due to the presence of any act or resolution that, whether directly or indirectly, affects his rights and well-being” as prescribed in their Rules of Court and upheld by the current constitution.
A pending future
After the case was resolved, COMELEC announced the rescheduling of the General Elections.
As of April 13, however, the final three candidates withdrew their candidacies, resulting to the closure of the 2016 Sanggunian General Elections.
Due to the lack of candidates, COMELEC agreed that holding Special Elections during the Intersession semester would produce a similar outcome rendering the effort futile as mentioned in their memorandum.
“Conducting Special Elections is not feasible due to time constraint, lack of willing candidates, and the unconstitutionality of holding elections in the Intersession semester,” Gabito explained.
In light of the ongoing amendment of the constitution however, COMELEC announced that they will be holding a plebiscite for the new constitution in coordination with ConCon on the last week of April.
COMELEC shall depend on the result of the plebiscite to determine the need for a Special Elections in accordance with the ratified constitution.
Should the plebiscite fail, the Sanggunian shall still resume office as a transitory government consisting of old Sanggunian officers.
According to COMELEC, “The dependency of such events is in the power vested upon the student body which shall then be respected and implemented accordingly.”
