The Student Commission on Election (SCE) expressed their apologies for using the phrase “official” for the partial results of the University Student Council (USC) elections in yesterday’s election results post.
SCE Chairperson Jessica Maestrecampo explained that she, along with two other commissioners, were tagged in a comment on the SCE’s results post in which they were criticized for setting aside the College of Engineering, Architecture, and Technology Student Council (CEATSC) and the USC while CEAT was still undergoing special elections during that time and the results for CEATSC and USC were not yet final.
However, Maestrecampo clarifies that, “Hindi naman namin isinasantabi ‘yong boto ng CEAT sa USC.”
Maestrecampo admitted the lapse of SCE for not thoroughly checking the layout of the results’ publication before posting them on the SCE Facebook page.
“Bale ang nangyari kasi, late na talaga kami nag-labas ng pub and hindi na namin na-check lahat ng kailangan lagyan ng partial and official ‘yong results ng USC, which ‘yon ‘yong pagkakamali namin,” Maestrecampo added.
On behalf of SCE, Maestrecampo expressed their apologies for the oversight in their publication, “Gusto naming mag-apologize na ‘official’ lang ‘yong nalagay namin.”
However, she explained that SCE did not want to release the results without CEATSC’s results, but the Office of Student Services Dean Don Malabanan pointed out to them that the votes they were awaiting from the CEAT special elections would still not be enough for the USC candidates to reach the vote of confidence.
“Si Sir Don na rin nagsabi na ‘Mag-release na kayo’ kasi insignificant na ‘yong boto and kahit na ma-reach ‘yong—130 kasi ‘yong sa special election sa CEAT—kahit ’yong 130 na ‘yon bumoto, hindi na rin maaabot ng USC candidates ‘yong vote of confidence na kailangan,” Maestrecampo clarified.
That said, the USC candidates officially did not reach the vote of confidence according the final election results of SCE. As such, a USC snap election will be held this coming May 24.