THE SANGGUNIAN discussed in a meeting on June 27 its preparations for an upcoming special elections that aims to fill out positions left vacant by the school-wide failure of elections last February.

The joint meeting was attended by the Sanggunian Central Board (CB), representatives from the Council of Organizations of the Ateneo (COA), Ateneo Commission on Elections, Ateneo Student Judicial Court (SJC), and the different Sanggunian departments.

Attendees of the meeting agreed that preparations for the special elections should focus on one thing: Getting the students of the Loyola Schools to vote in order to reach quota.

“What’s debatable is how we will campaign [for the elections] to make sure it doesn’t fail,” said 3rd Year John Gokongwei School of Management (JGSOM) CB Representative Marc Duque.

One solution presented in the meeting was to encourage the full participation of freshmen in the special elections through their Introduction to Ateneo Culture and Tradition classes.

The attendees agreed that this can immediately bring the number of garnered votes near quota.

On the part of student organizations, COA President Karlo Abadines assured that the council will be moving its individual units to help in the mobilization of voters.

“How could we actually help to bring the organization members to go and vote? It’s really to convince sectors to help in the push for special elections,” he said.

Moreover, JGSOM Chair Alex Tanjangco, who was the only school chairperson elected in the last General Elections, suggested distributing paper ballots in classrooms to encourage students to vote.

“The reason that people won’t vote is convenience. They are hassled by [going to voting stations],” she said in a mix of English and Filipino.

However, Tanjangco clarified that students will still have the option to not vote if they refuse to do so.

At present, the different sectors of the student government are still finalizing a more comprehensive plan for the special elections.

The body has also yet to give a specific date on when the polls will take place, though, according to Abadines, they will coincide with the Freshmen Elections.

Filling out seats

Currently, the Sanggunian is running without a Top 4 in place, as these positions failed to garner the minimum number of votes in the February General Elections.

Majority of the seats for CB representatives and executive officers are also yet to be filled.

In the interim, 4th Year JGSOM CB Representative Ga-el Mendoza was elected as CB liaison to act as spokesperson of the Sanggunian and as the official signatory in the absence of both the president and vice president.

However, if the position of vice president is filled in the upcoming special elections, Mendoza will have to vacate his seat.

The newly-elected vice president will have to assume the responsibilities of the president. However, this does not give the former the veto power that is granted to the latter.

This is in accordance to Article XV, Section 4(a) of the 2005 Constitution of the Undergraduate Students of the Ateneo de Manila Loyola Schools, which states: “Vacancies that occur in the Central Board and School Boards before the election of Freshman Officers, with the exception of the positions of Sanggunian President and School Board Chairpersons, shall be filled via special elections to be held simultaneously with the Freshman Year Officers Elections.”

Similarly, there will have to be acting chairpersons for the School of Humanities, School of Science and Engineering, and School of Social Sciences.

Tanjangco argued, however, that since Section 4(a) does not explicitly state that the positions of president and school chairpersons cannot be elected in the special elections, the stipulation is open to the interpretation of the SJC.

Abadines also weighed in, saying that these positions should be open for election as “there is a need for them.”

Updated on May 27, 2014 at 9:18 PM.