Jonas Angelo Abadilla and Izabelle Dolores, both from the Student Alliance for the Advancement of Democratic Rights in UP (STAND UP), will be leading this year’s University Student Council (USC) as its chairperson and vice chairperson, respectively.

Abadilla, a chemical engineering student, garnered 4,765 votes over UP Alyansa ng mga Mag-aaral para sa Panlipunang Katwiran at Kaunlaran’s (UP Alyansa) chairperson candidate Dana Mica Torregosa’s 2,853 votes. Chemistry student Dolores, meanwhile, was able to get the support of 5,400 voters, beating UP Alyansa’s Patricia Quarte.

This is the first time the red banner clinched both the standard bearer posts of the USC since their 2016 win.

All 12 councilor seats in the USC will also be taken by STAND UP in the next academic year. Leading the councilors’ race was Lance Al Francis Daniel of STAND UP who got 4,526 votes.

Along with STAND UP’s victory, this year’s voter turnout is the highest since 2017. Only 10,446 out of 22,619 students voted in this year’s first-ever remotely held USC elections after the University Student Electoral Board (USEB) extended the voting period for one day. This translates to a 46.18-percent turnout, 5.33 percentage points up from the 2019 polls, according to the USEB.

This uptick in voter turnout is similar to other USC elections held in other UP units (Los Baños, Cebu, Baguio). UP Diliman is the fourth UP constituent university to hold the student council elections remotely.

An online platform, Halalan UPD, was used to cast ballots, while those with limited connectivity were able to vote remotely via phone call.

“It has been a long and challenging road to put up this first-ever remote student council election in UP Diliman. Moments like these are a test to our strength and solidarity,” said Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Louise Jashil Sonido, who is also the USEB chairperson. “[To the candidates,] win or lose, you stepped up to the plate.”

Despite losing the standard bearer and councilor posts, UP Alyansa, nonetheless, managed to clinch college representative positions in the Colleges of Music, Business Administration, and Education.

STAND UP’s campaign hinged on a platform of unity among various sectors, both inside and outside the university, to forward calls on democratic rights, education, and the pandemic. Only STAND UP was also able to field candidates in all 14 university-wide elected positions.

This year’s election was also simultaneously held with 12 local college council elections and a special election in the College of Science. The newly elected USC will take office once the next academic year begins. ●

Graphics by Kent Ivan Florino