A GROUP of students who claim to represent the graduating batch filed a petition to declare Article XI, Section 2 of the current Electoral Code—which allows only non-graduating students to vote in the upcoming Sanggunian elections—as “unconstitutional.”

The said provision states that graduating seniors cannot vote in the Sanggunian General Elections unless the elections are held at the beginning of the school year.

The petition has been denied by the Student Judicial Court (SJC), but the petitioners have filed a motion for reconsideration Monday night, asking the Court to reverse their decision and issue an injunction or temporary restraining order on the conduct of elections, which begin Tuesday.

The Student Judicial Court released a decision on the motion, midnight Tuesday, by issuing a one-day injunction to give “the Court reasonable time to deliberate on the case,” and for the Ateneo Commission on Elections (COMELEC) to reply.

“The resumption of elections will depend on the decision released by the magistrates as soon as possible, given the time constraints,” the decision said.

Suppression?

Computer engineering supersenior Richmond Sim protested the regulation in a Facebook post on the evening of March 16, three days before the scheduled elections on March 19 (This was moved to March 20 due to the suspension of classes).

He said that the exclusion of graduating students is a “clear suppression of democracy.”

Sim, along with fellow computer engineering supersenior John Paul Mandap, electronics and communications engineering supersenior Abby Kate Roxas, and psychology senior Athena Carangan, submitted their petition to the Student Judicial Court (SJC) earlier that day.

This petition argued that the article in question conflicts with Article II, Section 4 of the 2016 Loyola Schools Undergraduate Constitution which states that, “[E]very student has the right to vote members of the student body into Sanggunian through a fair and just elections.”

The petitioners said that considering only non-graduating students as “qualified voters” defeats the graduating students’ right to vote.

They also requested for a temporary injunction against the elections happening from March 19 to March 21 until the matter is resolved.

Dismissing the ‘legacy’

“Personally, I filed the petition [because] I felt a sense of responsibility to speak up [on] behalf of my batch kasi paalis na kami (because we’d be graduating soon)… [The 2018] Sanggu Elections might be one of our final [legacies],” Sim explained in an interview with The GUIDON.

He said that all petitioners spoke with the COMELEC Chief Commissioner Martin Moreno regarding the agency’s responsibility to “announce a method for the determination of the graduating seniors once the voting process has been agreed upon by the Board of Commissioners,” as stated under the same Electoral Code article.

Moreno explained that graduating students are not allowed to vote because they will not be present during the following Sanggunian’s term.

Following this, literature junior Myra De Guzman, legal management junior Marie Angela Tablada, and management engineering freshman Michaela Torres filed a Motion for Intervention on March 17 that described the petition as “strongly-worded, yet legally flawed.”

The motion also stated that granting the petitioners a preliminary injunction “[would] serve the purpose of the weakening of the Loyola Schools student institutions.”

Three hours later, COMELEC submitted a Consolidated Reply and Motion to Dismiss to the SJC in response to the petition. The document requested the Court to deny the petitioners’ appeal for a preliminary injunction and to dismiss the declaration of Article XI, Section II of the Electoral Code as unconstitutional.

COMELEC said that graduating students cannot be recognized as qualified voters because the succeeding Sanggunian “only represents the undergraduates of the following year.”

“Both motions [for intervention and dismissal] failed to address all our arguments [and] are a threat to democracy,” Sim responded in a new Facebook post, “Let us not be deterred.”

The Court’s verdict

On the evening of March 18, the SJC released a decision dismissing the petition on the grounds that it failed “to meet the requisites for judicial review.”

The Court dismissed the petition due to lack of legal standing, such as proof that they had suffered actual or threatened injury due to the alleged illegal action.

Additionally, the Court stated that for the petitioners to be formally recognized by the law as representatives of “Seniors and Superseniors,” they would need to prove that they have the approval of the consensus, or at the very least, the majority of the roughly 2000 graduating students.

“Because it is not included in their petition that they have a document granting them representative powers of this sector, the Court refuses to acknowledge their claim to call themselves the representative of the seniors and super-seniors,” the Court said.

A rally for support

An online document entitled “Public Statement of Support for Graduating Students’ Right to Vote” was released today, a day after SJC issued their official decision.

The statement invoked Article XI, Section 2A of the Amended 2016 Electoral Code —which says that graduating students’ votes during elections shall be tallied but excluded from the overall quota. According to the petitioners, such a provision “[enshrines] the right of all students […] to be heard in the electoral process.”

The code was used before the passage of the 2016 Loyola Schools Constitution. Then, a quota of 50%+1 of qualified voters should be met before an election is declared valid.

“The Court and COMELEC must realize that issues on which graduating seniors have unique experiences and perspectives on—such as those of the senior curriculum, thesis expenses and requirements, and clearance and graduation requisites—are issues that involve all Atenean students,” the statement asserted.

Supporters, majority of whom are graduating seniors as of writing, continue to rally for the cause by signing their names on the editable document. They have 149 signatories as of writing, with the graduating super-seniors at 14. Other signatories include supporting non-graduating students, with 122 signatories, supporting alumni with 28, and supporting faculty and staff with two.

Students respond

Former Ateneo de Manila University student Johannes Unana (now in Ateneo de Naga University) expressed his support on Facebook, explaining that to his knowledge, “the votes of the graduating batch are gathered, but not immediately counted until after the votes of the undergraduates reach quota.”

“The action of not allowing the ‘graduating’ [Loyola Schools] students to vote bothers me, as it may set a precedent that specific sectors can be excluded from voting as COMELEC deems so,” Unana added.

Meanwhile, psychology junior Riel Gutierrez believes otherwise. “As I have observed from the past years, hindi talaga nagvo-vote ang mga seniors kasi nga hindi na rin sila makikinabang sa ano man ang magiging lagay ng [Sanggunian] next year (As I have observed from the past years, the seniors don’t really vote, since they will not benefit from whatever plans the Sanggunian has next year,)” he said.

Gutierrez also questioned the petition’s timing. “From the years that passed, ngayon lang ito in-address? (From the years that passed, this is only being addressed now?)”

“Is it really because of the need to be heard? Or is this backed by political agenda?”

The petitioners addressed similar concerns in their concluding paragraph saying that the move in no way equates to “the elections being rigged.” They added that those who believe so are “certainly misguided, if not devious for thinking so.”

According to USAD Premier Billie Blanco, their party believes that while Sim raised important points, his request for the provision to be declared unconstitutional along with his last-minute call for election postponement is a “legal shortcut that circumvents the law.”

“To grant such is an attack on due process and erodes the integrity and stability of our democratic institutions,” Blanco said.

On the other hand, Green Coalition vice presidential candidate Niels Nable said that the coalition was still discussing their position on the petition. As of writing, the Green Coalition has not released their stand on the issue.

Meanwhile, Sanggunian President Ia Marañon said that she is in favor of allowing graduating students to vote. “I think disallowing [graduating students] to vote is another reason why [voting] turnouts are abysmal,” she said.

Marañon also noted that she “respects the autonomous units of the Sanggunian in their decision to dismiss the petition.” However, she believes that the issue regarding graduating students’ voting rights should be addressed in the years to come.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated 11:53 PM, March 19, to reflect the Motion for Reconsideration submitted by petitioners before the SJC, and updated 12:41 AM, March 20, to reflect the SJC’s decision to grant a one-day injunction following the motion for reconsideration.