IN AN OVERWHELMING landslide and upset last May 10, the Nationalist Youth and Progressive Democrats (NYPD) won eight of the nine seats in the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) Student Council (SC), leaving San Bigkis Party (SBP) with only the Second-Year Level Representative position as per the final and official results tabulated by the San Beda Electoral Board (ELBO).
After an eight-hour polling period supervised by the ELBO, in close collaboration with the Bedan Information Technology Society (BITS), a total of 59.36% voter turnout was reported, which is equivalent to 1,602 out of 2,699 students from the CAS.
All voting was carried out with the relaunch of the BotoBedista Voting System (BBVS) that was last used during the First-Year Representative and Second Special Presidential Elections back in September 2023.
Under “careful operation,” the final ballot count favored the side of the NYPD slate for the top three positions, along with the Secretary-General, Treasurer, Auditor, and Third and Fourth-Year Level Representatives.
NYPD’s Mari Ernestine Okol was elected as the new SC President, Amir Jordan Hussin as the Vice President for Internal Affairs, and Chriselle Marie Tamares as the Vice President for External Affairs.
They were elected alongside their party mates Lourenella De Leon, Phoenicia Drymz Porbusa, and Jamae Ishi Dimaya who were the new Secretary-General, Treasurer, and Auditor, respectively.
Finally, elected in the Third and Fourth-Year Level Representative positions were NYPD’s Zhamira Padol and Alizea Bernadine Sison, respectively, leaving the Second-Year Level Representative post to Beige Benedict Campbell—SBP’s only titleholder in the newly elected council.
In an interview with The Bedan after the proclamation ceremony, Okol revealed that, prior to the event, the election for her was already to a “win or learn [experience],” adding that “walang lose ito…we were ready to accept whatever…the results were.”
But after the overwhelming announcement revealing a SC dominated by the NYPD, Okol described how “honored” she was, saying “this just shows na nakita ng Bedan community ‘yung vision lang that every election is for them,” the newly-elected President added.
Also overwhelmed upon his proclamation was the new Vice President for Internal Affairs, Hussin who thanked Bedans for their support, saying, “I want to thank our political party, the NYPD, for giving us the chance to run, and thank you at nanalo kami. Thank you Bedistas!”
Tamares, the newly-elected Vice President for External Affairs, also expressed her thanks to NYPD and the Bedan community “for their overwhelming support,” adding that “sabi nga ni Mari, ‘win or learn,’ pero ngayon, we are the next Student Council.”
Addressing the matter of Campbell being SBP’s sole winner, Tamares said that “despite nga [NYPD was] dominating the Student Council… siyempre we want to make sure na hindi rin siya ma-le-left out. Kasi…at the end of the day and at the start syempre ng… pag-serve namin sa Bedan community, we want to disregard talaga ‘yung political parties…after all, we are still Bedans.”
On Campbell’s take on working with the NYPD-dominated SC, he shared how he is “very much” willing to work with them, saying “at the end of the day, we are elected in our position not…because of our political party po. Ito po… sa panunungkulan po at proklama bilang student leader po, parte na po tayo ng…ating konseho. Kaya po, wala na po tayong papanigang political party.”
Ayrah Celline Asis, the ELBO Chairperson, said that the transmission of votes was one of the “fastest” based on her own experience, crediting the BBVS they developed jointly with BITS for this development.
“Based on my experience serving in the ELBO, this is one of the fastest and smoothest transmission of results that I have seen firsthand and I credit this to the close collaboration between the Board and its partners, especially BITS,” said Asis.
ELBO Resolution No. 28-2324, issued on the evening of May 10, contains the official tally of the final results for the 2024 CAS SC General Elections.