FOUR ARTLETS Student Council (ABSC) posts remain vacant as the Faculty of Arts and Letters (AB) Board of Majors appointed only one officer-in-charge for the second term following the candidates’ withdrawal or failure to muster the majority vote.
Communication sophomore Mari Angelo Moredo was selected as officer-in-charge (OIC) of the ABSC Office of the Secretary through a 10-3 vote, the board announced in a resolution dated Jan. 27.
Meanwhile, four positions, namely the internal vice president, external vice president, auditor and public relations officer, remain unfilled.
According to AB Board of Majors deputy speaker Jhannin Carandang, a structured process was followed in deliberating the nominees for OICs. The candidates were evaluated according to their submitted documents and their performance during the interviews, she added.
“Since every nominee was given the chance to speak and be heard, the board made sure that personal beliefs and prejudices did not sway the discussions as we adhered to due process,” Carandang told The Flame.
She said the nominees’ documented qualifications and their responses to the board’s situational, positional and constitutional questions during the interview proper were assessed to prevent biases from interfering with the deliberations.
“In order to reduce the impact of individual prejudices throughout the deliberation process, all procedures were carried out in accordance with the set regulations and collectively guaranteed fairness,” Carandang said.
Committee report
In a committee report dated Jan. 27, the AB Board of Majors said Moredo had demonstrated an understanding of the technicalities of paper processing and other responsibilities of a secretary, but “lacks more specific protocols to tackle certain challenges,” such as deadlines and late submission of papers.
“More so, the candidate presented resilience in the interview despite the questions being mainly situational, with precise answers for the board interviewers to assess what approach the candidate would take. [He] also showed a difficult sense of communication during the interview yet also showed promising ideas when it came to [his] platform,” the board added.
According to the board, internal vice president OIC candidate Katrina April Ginete withdrew from the application because of medical reasons. Meanwhile, external vice president OIC aspirant Gillian Daphne Del Rosario failed to obtain a majority vote, with the board deciding to reject her nomination through a 7-6 vote. The decision was made even if the board had cited her “credibility” and other qualities that make her “fit for the position.”
The 13-person board unanimously voted against candidates Raymond Janfred Quinto and Liam Thomas Recacho, who sought to become the OIC of the Office of the Auditor and Office of the Public Relations Officer, respectively.
The board said Quinto had presented a “solid” background in finance, but his supposed admission to working under pressure as a weakness, as well as the lack of clarity and directness in responding to key questions, rendered him “unfit” for the position.
Meanwhile, the board ruled that Recacho had shown “great promise” as a leader but lacked expertise in handling his desired post after he allegedly provided “vague” and “repetitive” answers about his strengths and strategies.
The AB Commission on Elections has declared as “final and executory” the temporary disqualification of Tindig UST-AB and its three members, namely then president-elect Justine Claire Ello, secretary-elect Amaya Cabiling and public relations officer-elect Frances Ricci Tongco for campaign violations.
Then internal vice president Kevin Christian Crisolo was officially promoted to acting president by the AB Board of Majors on Dec. 9. The nomination for OICs was announced on the same day to address the vacancies in the council.
Four executive officers now stand in the ABSC, namely, Crisolo, Moredo, treasurer Nicole Lagunsad and chief-of-staff Raizel Ian Ocampo. F — Ma. Alyanna Selda