Earlier today, the Ateneo Commission on Elections (COMELEC) released the 2021 Sanggunian General Elections’ final results after extending the voting period to April 17. The Ateneo COMELEC confirmed to The GUIDON that the adjustment was implemented in consideration of the Loyola Schools’ (LS) recent calendar modification.
This year’s elections saw all seats filled in the general elections. In previous years, the student body experienced several drawbacks in elections, such as the 2019 elections and the postponement of the 2020 elections due to the COVID-19 pandemic’s abrupt onset.
Kara Angan (1 AB POS) was proclaimed the Sanggunian President-elect, along with TJ Alcantara (2 AB POS-MPM) as Vice President-elect. They were joined by Rika Cruz as School of Sciences and Engineering Representative, Ivan Nabong as School of Social Sciences (SOSS) Representative, Patrick Capili as School of Humanities Representative, and Liezel Brito as John Gokongwei School of Management Representative.
In addition to the election of the Sanggunian’s next leaders, a sectoral referendum was held, which resulted in the renewal of the Scholars’ Sector, the Sports Club Sector, and the League of Independent Organizations (LIONS).
The Ateneo COMELEC’s final results memorandum, however, did not detail the final breakdown of votes. The GUIDON reached out to the Ateneo COMELEC for this data, but was informed that the commissioners have yet to “double check [all votes], especially [for] the top [six] positions” as of writing. Ateneo COMELEC Chief Commissioner John Lumbre explained that while the votes are pending complete verification, the outcome of the election is unlikely to change.
Filling the gaps
The following statistics were derived from the Ateneo COMELEC’s initial results.
Out of the 1,954 votes cast, Angan accumulated 1,371 votes (70.2%), while Alcantara gathered 1,671 votes (85.5%).
With her election, Angan hopes to integrate a “whole-of-student body approach,” wherein students from all sectors can become more engaged through the creation of technical working groups and committees via the Sanggunian. “We can only fully harness the diversity of experiences of the student body [if] we give students a space to represent themselves,” she said.
Alcantara notes, however, that the Sanggunian remains a “work-in-progress”—especially in enacting the necessary changes to increase student participation. “This is just a continuation of what we started in the past, and though there will still be crises ahead that would challenge us, I will dare to believe that through our collective commitment, we can all rise together,” he asserted.
Meanwhile, Brito garnered 354 out of 404 votes (87.6%), Cruz collected 433 out of 529 votes (81.9%), and Capili received 170 out of 214 votes (79.4%).
While other candidates ran unopposed, SOSS Representative candidates Nabong and Heather Andres ran against each other. Nabong rose as the winner after receiving 398 out of 807 votes (49.3%), which is 14.7% higher than Andres’ recorded 279 out of 807 votes (34.6%). “Whether they voted for me or not, I will work tirelessly to represent all SOSS students, and I’ll make sure that their voices, views, and interests are amplified and heard,” Nabong said.
The following candidates won course representative seats: Marcus Gawtee (3 AB LIT (ENG)), Nigel Tan and Vboi Opeña (2 BS ES), Christian Sarabia (2 BSMS CS), Lorence Ruiz, Sabine Zorilla, and Josefina Tumali (3 BS BIO), Victor Escobido (4 BS ES), Ryan Magno (2 AB POS), James Tolosa (2 AB MA-POS), Anna Czarina de Marcaida (2 BS PSY), and Yuan Gabriel Reyes (3 AB SOCIO).
2 BFA CW Course Representative candidate Annette “Ani” Andal lost to the abstain vote. They also issued an apology prior to the release of the official results for violating campaign protocols.
A majority beyond reach
Beyond the victories of most candidates, this year’s elections surpassed all voter turnouts from the last four General Elections at 22.24%. Compared to the 2019 elections’ voter turnout of 11.57%, this year’s results saw an increase of approximately 92.22%. Despite this increase, this year’s voter turnout remains far from the majority, or 50%+1 of the LS student population as detailed in the 2019 Constitution.
The same conclusion can be said about the sectoral referendum, which only garnered 1,830 votes or 20.83% out of the LS student population. Nonetheless, the student body voted to renew the sectoral status of the Scholars’ Sector, Sports Club Sector, and LIONS.
ERRATUM: A previous version of this article said that TJ Alcantara’s course is AB MA-POS instead of AB POS-MPM. It also mistakenly addressed Ani Andal with she/her pronouns instead of they/them. The article has since been edited to rectify these errors. We apologize for this oversight.
