Three out of five candidates for the executive council have been elected, namely Dale Fernan Castillo as executive president, Shane Lynne Andrei Uy as executive secretary, and Dheine Louise Maderazo as executive treasurer, as announced by the De La Salle Lipa (DLSL) Committee on Elections (Comelec), May 27.
However, the vice president position still remains vacant due to the lack of candidates while the positions for executive auditor and executive public relations officer were considered “failed elections” for not meeting the target number of ‘50% plus 1’ or 1809 votes.
The College of Business, Economics, Accountancy, and Management (CBEAM) had the highest voter turnout with 44.77%, followed by the College of Information Technology and Engineering (CITE) with 19.37%, the College of Education, Arts and, Sciences (CEAS) with 16.24%, the College of Nursing (CON) with 13.26%, and the College of International Hospitality and Tourism Management (CIHTM) with 6.36%, a total of 56.55% or 2,045 student voters.
Despite having more votes than half of the college population, Niño Angelo Lescano, DLSL Comelec chairperson, believes that the real sense of elections was not fully realized.
“Despite having a high voter turnout, we believe that the real sense of elections was not fully realized because the majority of the positions are still vacant, [which does not meet] the purpose and objectives of DLSL COMELEC in conducting SG elections,” Lescano said.
Meanwhile, nine out of ten candidates from CBEAM council were elected, hailing Mitch Norlene Mindanao as the CBEAM Governor, however the other college councils from CITE, CEAS, CON, and CIHTM remain unoccupied.
According to Article XI, Section 5 of the Student Government Constitution, the newly elected SG officers will be the ones to appoint individuals to fill in the vacant positions.
Appointees will be required to submit a copy of their grades and a good moral certificate to the DLSL Comelec to qualify.
As the newly elected executive president, Castillo assured that the appointment of officers would be one of their urgent agenda at the start of their term.
Meanwhile, student voters from CEAS and CON expressed their expectations for the newly elected executive SG officers for the next academic year.
First-year nursing student, Lemuel Olympiada, said that he expects the newly elected officers to fulfill their purpose of being the voice of the student body.
“I know for a fact that they will serve as the voice of thousands of students, wherein they will pursue ideas and actions with the best interest of the students in their mind. With that, I expect or want them to not lose sight of their purpose and goals and let their imbibed learnings from DLSL to guide them in their journey as student leaders,” Olympiada said.
On the other hand, Madeilene Espiritu, a first-year psychology student, who refrained from voting, said that she was not familiar with any of the candidates and was unsure who to vote for.
“Ang tanging expectation ko lang ay ma-handle nila ng ayos iyong trabaho nila kahit through online lang at may online classes or [requirements] sila [dahil] pinagkatiwalaan sila [ng student body],” Espiritu mentioned.
The newly elected officers will officially start their term this June.
