Political party Nagkakaisang Iskolar para sa Pamantasan at Sambayanan (KAISA UP) will not field any candidates in the upcoming student council elections for the second consecutive year, paving the way for a two-way race between the UP Alyansa ng mga Mag-aaral para sa Panlipunang Katwiran at Kaunlaran (UP Alyansa) and the Student Alliance for the Advancement of Democratic Rights in UP (STAND UP) .

KAISA UP has previously decided to skip the elections last year to focus on “rebuilding” their party. However, their affiliate organizations in local college councils such as LEAD-CHE and START-AIT will still continue to field candidates in this year’s elections. A candidate for the college representative post in the College of Home Economics will run under LEAD-CHE.

In all, 42 candidates are running for various positions to the University Student Council, according to the University Student Electoral Board’s (USEB) final list of candidates published earlier.

Among those seeking to lead the student body is the incumbent USC Councilor Latrell Felix from STAND UP. Felix will be challenged by UP Business Administration Council member Jaira Marie Del Mundo of UP Alyansa.

Incumbent USC Councilor Mary Sunshine Reyes will attempt to continue STAND UP’s streak since 2019 in winning the second-highest post in the council. Reyes will face UP Alyansa’s Tristan Floyd Rafa, from the College of Education, to determine the next USC vice chairperson and convenor of the League of College Councils.

Sixteen candidates, meanwhile, will compete for 12 councilor posts. STAND UP was able to complete its slate for all 12 positions, while only four ran under UP Alyansa. Moreover, 12 candidates from STAND UP and four from UP Alyansa are seeking to represent their college in the USC. 

Six independent candidates are also running for the college representative posts in College of Engineering, College of Home Economics, College of Science, National College of Public Administration and Governance, School of Statistics, and Technology Management Center. LEAD-CHE’s candidate was marked as an independent candidate on USEB’s final list as they are a local college party.

There are 14 university-wide and 18 college representative seats at stake in this year’s elections. UP Alyansa managed to win the top posts in the USC from 2017 to 2018, but STAND UP took control of the USC in 2019. STAND UP was able to maintain its momentum in 2021 as it swept all 14 university-wide positions and gained control of local college councils such as in CSSP, a traditional base of UP Alyansa.

STAND UP will aim to repeat its feat last year of winning the standard bearer posts and taking all the 12 councilor seats at the USC, while UP Alyansa will attempt to dent STAND UP’s momentum. The official campaign period will run from April 18 to May 1, while the voting period will be from May 2 to May 8. The winning candidates will be proclaimed on the evening of May 8. ●