By Janyn Mariella Montealegre and Micah Marie F. Naadat
All eight bets of the unopposed political party Hukuman emerged victorious in the first-ever online polls conducted last September 20.
Hukuman standard bearer Justine Aara Albon was proclaimed as the new Law Student Government (LSG) President after garnering 350 votes, surpassing the 192 abstain votes.
“I feel rewarded and humbled by the turnout of the election. The online election was not easy as we were limited by the platform. The usual aura of the campaign cannot be physically felt, so it was our goal to make our presence known by engaging in the online room-to-room process,” Albon said in an interview with thebarrister.
Janeth Abas was announced as the next LSG Internal Vice President after getting 370 votes, 198 votes higher than the 172 abstain votes.
Jocel Cerezo clinched the post of LSG secretary. Winning a total of 356 votes, ahead of the 186 abstain votes.
John Paul David is the next LSG treasurer. He garnered 351 votes, 160 votes higher than the 191 abstain votes.
Mark Philip Tandog won the position of LSG auditor with 397 votes, beating the 145 abstain votes.
Frances Dolina was proclaimed as Second Year Representative, while Marija Alexandra Felizardo and Karlos Hizon won as First Year Representatives.
Pauline Turiano and Michael John Abayon were appointed as External Vice President and Third Year Representative, respectively, following the vacancies in candidacies for the said positions.
Hukuman viewed their immense passion to lead the student body, coupled with their genuine unity as a group, as the main forces that led them to success despite the digital divide brought about by the pandemic.
“I believe that the main reason why we were elected was our attitude towards the change that we yearned for. As an issue-based political party, we aim to solve each problem as they arise. Moreover, each of my co-officers had individual platforms that I must commend. One of our strengths is our united front. The Hukuman Partylist made sure to support us from the filing of our certificates of candidacy until the election process,” Albon expressed.
With the campaign administered online due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the candidates faced difficulties in letting the students get to know the LSG aspirants.
“We lacked the usual engagement and intimacy in letting the students know the candidates, but we believe that we made it possible through our publicity materials and Zoom room-to-room campaigns,” Cerezo said.
“After the campaign period and when the results were out, we never got to really savor the moment because we wanted to face the responsibilities head on. We wanted to make a timeline and lay all possible solutions on the table. We immediately wanted to effect change,” she added.
For their term, the newly elected student leaders aspire to build more connections beyond the university and to further help the student body cope with the demands of online learning.
“As members of the LSG, our primary concern is making sure that the students of the SBU-COL are well-equipped to cope with the requirements of online learning […]. It’s our job to address concerns that students may have and that the administration may not necessarily be aware of. Through communication and positive feedback with the student body and administration, we can achieve holistic learning even with the setup we currently have,” Felizardo said.
Hukuman also assured that the student body will be an active partner in instilling change.
“That is what we want to leave behind after our term–a brand of student governance that makes the student body its partner. A brand of student governance that draws its strength from the student body’s power as we acknowledge that the LSG has no monopoly of solutions. A brand of student government powered by the students’ collective action,” Tandog said.
The new batch of officers will serve the student body for one year upon taking their oath of office.
Spearheaded by the San Beda College of Law Electoral Board, this year’s online polls accumulated a total Voters’ Turnout of 542 votes, or 51.18% of the entire population of the San Beda University-College of Law student body comprising of 1,059 students.
THE BARRISTER 