#ABHalalan2018 Archives

Apr232018 by No Comments

SDP sweeps ABSC polls; former treasurer is new prexy

#ABHalalan2018, News

By ALI IAN MARCELINO V. BIONG ALL SIX candidates of the Students' Democratic Party (SDP) secured a seat in the next academic year’s Arts and Letters Student Council (ABSC). Former ABSC Treasurer Rafael Arellano (SDP) will lead Artlets as new ABSC president after garnering 892 votes, defeating Grand Alliance for Progress’ (GAP) standard bearer and former ABSC Public Relations Officer (PRO) Wrexler Bayani (656 votes), and independent bet Dindo Roxas (579 votes). A total of 232 votes were unanswered. Arellano said that while he is grateful to Artlets for trusting his political party, the next student council will still need the students’ help. “[H]aving a council hailing from one political party, I understand that we will be highly scrutinized, which is why I want to reiterate...

Apr172018 by No Comments

AB Comelec eyes higher voter turnout due to automated elections

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By ALI IAN MARCELINO V. BIONG THE FACULTY of Arts and Letters (AB) Commission on Elections (Comelec) is expecting a higher voter turnout of 75 percent due to the revert from manual to automated system of voting and canvassing this coming central and local student council elections. “We believe that this year's elections will be less time consuming compared from last year since we are using an automated system. So the switch from manual elections to EVoSys (Electronic Voting System) could increase the total voter turnout not just in AB but in the entire Thomasian community,” AB Comelec Chairperson Ayla-Rhey Salapare told the Flame. Comelec’s expected 75 percent would be 2,351 students out of the 3,135 Artlets enrolled this semester as showed in the data from the Office of the R...

Apr172018 by No Comments

ABSC bets vow to work with Artlets, address gender-based issues

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By LUIS MIGUEL B. ARUCAN THE CANDIDATES for this year’s Arts and Letters (AB) Student Council elections seek Artlet involvement to carry out their advocacies and promised to focus on gender-based issues during the mandatory debate held April 12. Wrexler Bayani from the Grand Alliance for Progress (GAP) challenged his fellow presidential candidate Dindo Jerome Roxas (Independent) on how he plans to prevent tuition hikes as he promised in his platforms. Roxas said he is prepared to launch signature campaigns and protests if the University’s administration declines his request. “’Pag hindi tayo pinakinggan, sasandig tayo sa lakas ng kolektibong pagkilos. […] Sa ganoong pamamaraan, [p]alagay ko makikita natin na pwede natin siyang gawin dito sa isang pribadong paaralan,” Roxas ...

Apr122018 by No Comments

AB to drop ‘abstain’ from ballots

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“ABSTAIN” WILL be removed as an option in the ballots in this year’s Arts and Letters Student Council (ABSC) elections despite other colleges retaining it in their polls, the chairperson of the AB Commission on Elections (Comelec) said. AB Comelec Chairperson Ayla-Rhey Salapare said the Faculty will have to drop abstain because it is not enshrined in the ABSC Constitution. “Ang may abstain lang sa ballot [ay] AMV, Nursing, and [Pharmacy]. ‘Yung constitutions nila [na] existing, naka-define kasi ‘yung abstain tapos nakasama talaga siya sa content of ballot […]‘Pag tiningnan niyo naman sa AB, wala talaga siyang [provision],” Salapare said. “Ang meron lang talaga sa AB, qualification for candidates. Aside from that wala nang ibang provision, kaya fino-follow naming ‘yung USEC (US...

Apr122018 by No Comments

Race for ABSC auditor down to solo candidate

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ARTLETS ARE now left with one candidate to eye for the position of Arts and Letters (AB) Student Council auditor after the AB Commission on Elections (Comelec) disqualified Dekada’s bet for failing to submit deficiencies on time. In a resolution released April 6, the AB Comelec said Dekada’s candidate for auditor Richard Carlyle Bote failed to submit other requirements by 5 p.m. last April 5, resulting in the forfeiture of his candidacy. AB Comelec Chairperson Ayla-Rhey Sapalare did not disclose to the Flame the other details behind Bote’s disqualification as per Dekada’s request. “We respect Dekada's request for privacy. In addition, since we are not under any investigation, there is no need for us to reveal said documents,” Sapalare said. She added, however, that the Come...

Apr52018 by No Comments

ABSC PRO post vacant; special poll certain next year

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By CRIS EUGENE T. GIANAN A SPECIAL election will greet Artlets at the start of the next academic year as no one ran for the position of Public Relations Officer (PRO) in this year’s Arts and Letters Student Council (ABSC) polls. AB Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairperson Ayla-Rhey Salapare said the student political parties in the Faculty were given enough time to prepare for the polls as they were informed of election-related matters a month before. “[H]indi naman kami pwedeng magpa-file ulit. Syempre ang filing, this is just one day. […] So if hindi sila nag-file ng candidate for the position of PRO, wala tayong magagawa doon.” Salapare told the Flame. “Very certain na magkakaroon ng elections agad at once next year first term.” Article XI Section 8 of the ABSC Cons...

Apr42018 by No Comments

16 hopefuls eye ABSC posts; no bets for PRO

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By ALI IAN MARCELINO V. BIONG with reports from CRIS EUGENE T. GIANAN SIXTEEN ARTLETS formalized their bids in this year’s Arts and Letters Student Council (ABSC) elections after filing their certificates of candidacy on Tuesday. However, no one ran for the position of Public Relations Officer (PRO). Political parties Dekada, Grand Alliance for Progress (GAP), Students’ Democratic Party (SDP), and an independent bet composed the preliminary list of candidates. Gunning for the position of president are former ABSC PRO Wrexler Bayani (GAP), former ABSC Treasurer Rafael Arellano (SDP), and Sociology junior Dindo Jerome Roxas (Independent). Dekada did not field a candidate for president because they did not want to place someone “without the necessary skillset, experience and...