Around 5 PM today, the University of Santo Tomas Central Commision on Elections (UST Central COMELEC) released an announcement regarding #USTHALALAN2017 on its Twitter account, @USTCComelec, that left many of UST's students appalled.
It can be recalled that a few months ago, a huge chunk of UST's student body chose to abstain in certain positions in the Central Student Council Elections due to various reasons, like the lack of substance or knowledge in certain matters.
Steven Grecia, the only candidate for Student Council President got 12,596 votes, which only came in second to the total of 15,803 students who chose to abstain. Since the abstain votes won, his position was declared vacant.
Steven, along with Daniela Frigillana, a candidate in the AB Student Council elections filed a petition saying that the abstain votes aren't votes and shouldn't be counted as such.
On June 18, the petition was granted and the Central Judiciary Board ordered the UST Central Commission on Elections to declare the candidates with the highest votes next to 'abstain' as winners for their respective posts.
The UST Comelec wasn't thrilled about the news and shared this statement today around 5 PM.
The student body reacted accordingly as one does when its voice is being silenced. Here are some of their sentiments:
Let's talk #USTHALALAN2017! What are your thoughts on this matter? Let us know in the comments below!
From The Candy Bulletin Community
