A candidate’s character matters more than their political party–at least according to the latest election cycles when the three contemporary parties’ chairpersons won.

In 2016, when the Student Alliance for the Advancement of Democratic Rights in UP (STAND UP) last clinched the chairperson post, nearly all the members of its slate garnered fewer votes than that of the party’s chairperson bet, Bryle Leaño. Save for their vice chairperson candidate Beata Carolino, who was only opposed by UP Alyansa ng mga Mag-aaral para sa Panlipunang Katwiran at Kaunlaran (UP Alyansa) candidate Vince Liban, STAND UP’s 11 councilor bets received, on average, one-third less vote than Leaño (see sidebar 1).

This discrepancy is more pronounced in the case of KAISA–Nagkakaisang Iskolar para sa Pamantasan at Sambayanan (KAISA UP). In 2018, their chairperson candidate Yael Toribio garnered nearly 4,000 more votes than his closest competitor from UP Alyansa, Emman Rodriguez.

But, despite Toribio’s landslide victory, this did not translate to wins down-ballot. Toribio’s running mate, Shara Landicho, received about 60 percent less votes than him. Their councilors had the same story: 10 of their candidates received around two-thirds less votes than Toribio (see sidebar 2). During the 2018 cycle, KAISA UP, despite winning the chairperson post, only grabbed three of the 12 councilor posts.

UP Alyansa’s 2017 victory with Benjie Aquino, however, tells a different story. In that election, two candidates of the party actually received higher votes from Aquino. Councilor candidates Cassie Deluria received 40 percent more votes while Sugar Del Castillo got four percent more than Aquino’s tally (see sidebar 3). Although UP Alyansa’s vice chairperson bet lost to Toribio that year, only one of their seven councilor candidates lost.

On average, the party’s councilor bets–excluding Deluria and Del Castillo–only suffered a net loss of almost 20 percent fewer votes than Aquino, which is, by far, the least of the three parties. This means that, in their latest victory, UP Alyansa was able to convince voters to pick their whole slate, as opposed to the greater split-ticket voting observed in the victory of KAISA UP’s chairperson bet in 2018 and STAND UP’s in 2016.

A party’s ability to sway students to vote for their whole slate does not only determine the number of victors and vanquished they will get in an election. Clinching the top USC posts is one thing, but winning the most seats in the council provides a party greater latitude in fulfilling its campaign promises. ●