ABSC elections Archives

Apr52022 by Issues EditorNo Comments

Independent candidates eye amendments to ‘outdated’ ABSC constitution

Issues

by EDUARDO FAJERMO INDEPENDENT CANDIDATES running for president and external vice president of the Faculty of Arts and Letter Student Council (ABSC) are pushing for amendments to the student body’s constitution, citing the need to update and clarify some of its provisions. Ratified in 2005, the constitution outlines the basic principles of the ABSC, including the powers and duties of the elected officials and the committees. ABSC presidential aspirant Cyrille Coronado and Ierathel Tabuno, candidate for external vice president, believe there are pressing issues that need to be resolved within the document to better lead and serve the Artlet community. ‘Vague provisions’ Coronado, a creative writing sophomore and former UST MaKatha vice president, cited the need for an A...

Feb72022 by Scenes EditorNo Comments

ABSC polls to be held in April

News

by KRISTINE ERIKA AGUSTIN THIS YEAR’S Artlets Student Council elections is expected to take place from April 4-8, the Faculty of Arts and Letters Commission on Elections (AB Comelec) announced Thursday. The filing of certificates of candidacy will start on March 9, while the submission of student deficiencies will be on March 11. The miting de avance will be held on March 14, but candidates will be allowed to campaign from March 12-17. However, the AB Comelec clarified that the schedule may still change. The UST Central Comelec earlier announced that the filing of certificates for candidacy in the Central Student Council would begin on March 1. The official list of candidates will be released on March 4. The proclamation of winners for the local and central ...

Sep22021 by Scenes EditorNo Comments

Artlets challenge ABSC candidates’ stance on key issues

News

by ARTHUR N. APOSTOL TWO UNOPPOSED candidates’ grasp of political and social issues were tested as they engaged in a fierce Miting de Avance for the 2021 Artlets Student Council (ABSC) special polls last Tuesday. Candidate for president and political science sophomore Denzelle Jude Caro’s stance on student activism in AB was questioned by students who pointed out how the ABSC was formed during the Marcos dictatorship. He said he was against activism in AB and that there are other platforms to express it. “Every channel is blocked because of the pandemic. In your student activism, currently, you are individualistic rather than collective. Right now, there are differences and vulnerabilities that we have to consider,” Caro said. He argued that it is necessary to protect t...

Aug202021 by Scenes EditorNo Comments

AB Comelec postpones special elections, extends filing of COC

News

THE UNAVAILABILITY of the electronic voting system has forced the Faculty of Arts and Letters Commission on Elections (AB Comelec) to postpone the student council special polls. The Artlets Student Council (ABSC) special elections, which were originally scheduled for Aug. 23 to 28 have been moved to Sept. 13 to 18. The filing of certificates of candidacy (COC) for three vacant positions will also be extended. In a resolution dated Aug. 18, the AB Comelec said the UST Office for Student Affairs had released a letter addressed to the ABSC regarding the postponement of the polls. "Whereas, the letter states the postponement of the Special Elections for the Academic Year 2021-2022 due to fortuitous event i.e, 'unavailability of Electronic Voting System (EnVoSys) during the dates of th...

Apr232018 by Editor in ChiefNo 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 Editor in ChiefNo Comments

AB Comelec eyes higher voter turnout due to automated elections

#ABHalalan2018, News

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 Editor in ChiefNo Comments

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

#ABHalalan2018, News

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 Editor in ChiefNo Comments

AB to drop ‘abstain’ from ballots

#ABHalalan2018, News

“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 Editor in ChiefNo Comments

Race for ABSC auditor down to solo candidate

#ABHalalan2018, News

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 Editor in ChiefNo Comments

ABSC PRO post vacant; special poll certain next year

#ABHalalan2018, News

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...