THE ATENEO Commission on Elections (COMELEC) released the final results for the 2023 Sanggunian General Elections yesterday, April 21, posting the initial results on April 20.
This year’s voter turnout concluded with 1,334 votes, which statistically stood at 14.08% of the 9,473 enrolled Loyola Schools (LS) students. This is opposed to the 2022 Sanggunian General Elections, which included 1861 votes or 18.84% of the student population.
Notably, on April 17, the last election day, the COMELEC received no electoral protests and inquiries but made adjustments to increase student votes, specifically extending the deadline for online ballots for all students. Because of these adjustments, the student votes were 81.66% higher than the previous day.
Final results
For the upcoming school year, candidate Bern Mendoza (3 AB COM) was proclaimed as Sanggunian President-elect, garnering 50.37% or a total of 672 votes. On the other hand, Nina San Andres (4 AB COM) fell short by 227 votes, ending the elections with 445 votes or 33.36%. Meanwhile, 217 students chose to abstain from voting for a president.
Mendoza’s running mate, Czarina de Marcaida (3 BS PSY) was deemed the upcoming Sanggunian Vice President, accumulating 552 votes or 41.38% of the total votes. Candidates Veejay Atienza (3 BS MGT-H) and Vboi Opeña (3 AB DS) received a total of 319 votes and 178 votes, respectively.
With regard to the school representatives, all sole candidates from the John Gokongwei School of Management (JGSOM), School of Humanities (SOH), and School of Social Sciences (SOSS) successfully attained their desired position.
JGSOM running representative Crystelle Soriano (2 BS MGT) obtained 130 out of 197 votes, while SOH representative Angelo Almodiel (2 AB PH) gathered 105 out of 147 total votes. Moreover, the candidate for SOSS representative, Emmanuel Frodo Uranza (2 BS PSY), attained 421 out of 627 votes.
As for the course representative aspirants, three candidates successfully secured their seats with a total of 100% votes from their respective courses: Iver John C. Delos Santos (2 AB EC-H), Allen Yu (2 AB POS-MPM) and Aoi Rika (2 BS REnt).
The breakdown of the results for the candidacy of course representatives is as follows:
Vinzen Borja (2 AB EC) was elected course representative for AY 2023-2024, standing at 92.31% with a total of 12 votes out of 13.
The position of 2 BS PSY course representative went to Leanne Gacusan, who earned 57.69% votes or a total of 15 of 26 votes.
Luis Redor (2 AB Dip IR) accumulated 86.21% votes or 25 out of 29 votes as the upcoming course representative.
Mari Macasaet (2 AB POS) took the position of course representative after attaining a total of 37.33% votes. Nyx Fernandez (2 AB POS) also ran for the same position with 30.67% votes. While two candidates were available for the position, 32% of the voters abstained, solidifying Macasaet as the sole representative.
Ashley Lao and Tristan Talon were proclaimed as the incoming 2 BFA ID course representatives with 32.05% and 37.18% votes, respectively. Aspirants Kait Paras and Joseph Querijero also ran for the position, accumulating 17.95% and 11.54% of the votes, respectively.
Kirsten Sy and Katherine Lim earned their seats as the course representatives for 2 AB PSY after respectively obtaining 43.84% and 42.46% of the votes. Three seats were originally opened for the position, leaving one seat vacant for the next academic year.
Sole aspirant Danielle John Aguilar (3 AB IS) secured their position of being course representative with 11 votes out of 13, standing at 84.62%.
Annielov F. Paboroquez (4 BS HS) ran for course representative and secured 23 votes out of 24, standing at 95.83%.
Sectoral referendum initial results
For sectoral representation in the Sanggunian Central Assembly, the League of Independent Organizations (LIONS) and the Scholars Sector petitioned to seek re-accreditation last March 14 and 31, respectively. The two sectors were given 30 days to collect signatures from 948 favored students—10% of the overall LS population.
Given this, as of April 22, both sectors achieved sectoral recognition from the student body as the Scholars Sector and LIONS respectively received 1,051 and 990 signatures.
In line with Article XV Section 11 of the Electoral Code, the COMELEC will allow three days for the protest period. The sectoral referendum final results will be released by the Commission on Tuesday, April 25, at 8 PM.
