In its second remote elections, the UP Diliman (UPD) student body continued to put its faith in the Student Alliance for the Advancement of Democratic Rights in UP (STAND UP) as the party swept all 14 seats in the University Student Council (USC).

Running on a platform of continuity and community engagement, STAND UP standard bearers Andrei Felix Latrell, a junior sociology major, and Mary Sunshine Reyes, a sophomore mathematics major, were elected as chairperson and vice chairperson, respectively.

Latrell garnered a total of 4,372 votes, beating his closest opponent Jaira Marie del Mundo of the UP Alyansa ng mga Mag-aaral para sa Panlipunang Katwiran at Kaunlaran (ALYANSA) by 1,886 votes. There were 1,588 registered voters who chose to abstain.

The race for vice chairperson was more one sided, as Reyes quickly overtook closest opponent Tristan Floyd Rafa (ALYANSA) with 4,769 votes, a difference of 2,852 votes. Of the registered voters, 1,760 chose to abstain.

Magic 12. The rest of their slate — all 12 councilors — were similarly successful in their bids, averaging 4,000 votes for each.

Kjoy Adriano, a senior broadcast communication major, garnered the most number of votes at 4,351, followed by Catherine Iyong Dalon, a freshman malikhaing pagsulat sa Filipino major, at 4,321 votes.

They were followed by Ron Edward Medina, a business administration and accountancy major (4,130 votes), and Aira Isabelle Ortiz (4,125 votes), Mary Angela Pelijates (3,983 votes), and Anne Catherine Silvio (3,923 votes), all sophomore visual communication majors.

Next came Don Alejandro Aison, a junior linguistics major (4,095 votes), Timothy Marc Maslog, a sophomore applied psychology major (3,979 votes), Yousuf Mustafa Babate, a sophomore sports science major (3,960 votes), Dominic Karl Cacho, a freshman molecular biology and biotechnology major (3,852 votes), Emmanuel Cruz, a sophomore materials engineering major (3,816 votes), and Xyril Einzen Salazar, a freshman malikhaing pagsulat sa Filipino major (3,664 votes).

College representatives. The roster of college representatives was a bit more colorful, with half of the 18 elected college representatives running either independently or under ALYANSA.

Three representatives were under the ALYANSA banner: Bernard Brian Bejo (College of Education), Lynette Anne Manaay (College of Music), and Khristinea Marie Ricader (School of Economics).

Meanwhile, six ran independently: Beatriz Pineda (College of Home Economics), Cieneilo Delah Mengullo (College of Science), Joseph Sean Eli Limbaga (National College of Public Administration and Governance), Giezelle Villanueva (School of Statistics), Rowinner Bautista (Technology Management Center), and Gian Paul Del Mindo (College of Engineering,).

The nine remaining elected college representatives are all from STAND UP: Ayessa Allen Vince Baloy (Asian Institute of Tourism), Maria Stacey Gail Daniel (College of Arts and Letters), Via Marie De Vera (College of Fine Arts), Angela Faith Gregorio (College of Human Kinetics), Kiara Ysabel Gorrospe (College of Mass Communication), Julian Matthew Formadero (College of Social Sciences and Philosophy), Daniel Klyde Villapando (College of Social Work and Community Development), Sen Dylayn Bantigue (School of Library and Information Studies), and Aliyah Raiann Pascual (UPD Extension Programs in Pampanga and Olongapo).

Voter turnout. Compared to the 2021 electoral exercise that had a voter turnout of 46.18 percent, this year’s voter turnout was only 35.32 percent. Of the 23,916 UPD registered students only 8,446 voted in the USC elections.

Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Louise Jashil R. Sonido attributed the lower turnout to students prioritizing their participation in the 2022 national elections.

“Maaaring isipin na mas nabaling lang ang atensyon ng mga estudyante sa mainit na mga bakbakan ng national elections ngayong taon,” she said.

USC voting was also extended twice on May 7 and May 11, with voting lines remaining open until May 16, 6 p.m.

The results were computed from the number of students who voted online through the Halalan UPD website or should the student request it, manual voting through voice call.  All elected student officials will serve in UPD’s USC for academic year 2022-2023.