POLITICAL SCIENCE (PolSci) sophomore and independent candidate Francis Gabriel Santos was elected public relations officer of the Central Student Council (CSC) after garnering a total of 9,277 votes.
Santos swept fellow Artlet Lance Lauren Santiago from Lakas Tomasino Coalition (LTC) and Nursing junior John Rhorick Legaspi from Lakas ng Diwang Tomasino (Lakasdiwa) who obtained 6,948 and 3,393 votes, respectively.
“It’s a huge task entrusted to us and I hope we will deliver our promises. I wish the Thomasian community will help us in making the Central Student Council become for the students again,” Santos told the Flame.
Santos is one of the only two candidates who won in the CSC elections. The other candidate is independent bet Therese Anjhona Mae Gorospe from the College of Education who was proclaimed secretary.
“I am not affiliated with any political party and all I did was my passion, my dedication, my motivation, and my courage to stand up and I think that’s my edge or that made me win this election,” Santos said.
For the PolSci sophomore, the Thomasians who participated in the electoral process this year are responsible voters.
“The voters are educated. They are actually doing their job as voters—to know what their candidate stands for and what their platforms are,” he said.
The positions of president, vice president, treasurer, and auditor were abstained by Thomasians.
Medical Technology junior and lone presidential candidate Steven Muller Grecia (LTC) garnered a total of 12,596 votes but was denied of victory by 15,803 abstain votes.
For the position of vice president, the 13,169 abstainers outnumbered the 10,130 and 5,051 votes earned by Speech Language Pathology sophomore Gabriela Sepulchre of LTC and Industrial Design sophomore Renz Santiago of Lakasdiwa, respectively.
Preschool Education major Gorospe obtained 11,319 votes in the secretarial race, beating rivals from the College of Tourism and Hospitality Management Alexandra Marie Guevarra (LTC) who got 5,262 votes and Josephine Beatrice Domingo (Lakasdiwa) who earned 3,031 votes.
For the position of treasurer, Marketing Management sophomore Daveson Jay Nieto of LTC earned 9,446 votes while Journalism junior Christopher Daniel Reyes of Lakasdiwa obtained 5,867 votes but both were defeated by the 13,088 abstainers.
Likewise, 13,329 abstain votes dominated the votes for the position of auditor. Accountancy sophomore Richard Lynus Javier (LTC) and Industrial Engineering sophomore Aston Estorpe (Lakasdiwa) garnered 10,212 and 4,881 votes, respectively.
A total of 28,873 Thomasians voted this year, a 5.78 percent decrease from last year’s 30,645 voters.
The proclamation of winners for the CSC and local student council elections was held April 21 and 22 at the Tan Yan Kee lobby. F MARIA EDEN T. DINO
