CONSOLIDATING THEIR ASPIRATIONS, candidates from San Bigkis Party (SBP) and independent hopefuls exchanged platforms and stances for the first College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) Student Council (SC) 2026 General Elections organized by the San Beda – Electoral Board (ELBO) last April 15 at the Abbot Rojo Hall.
This year’s Miting de Avance (MDA) marks the first CAS-specific meet since the establishment of the College of Accountancy and Business (CAB).
The MDA proper began with the candidates’ introductions, followed by a platform exchange between individuals contending for the same positions, subsequent to the sole candidates. A panel discussion, which included representatives from different organizations as panelists, election debates, and an audience forum occurred after.
SBP Presidential aspirant Beige Benedict Campbell led their party’s slate introduction, briefly touching on their respective platforms and advocacies, as reiterated and expounded during the other candidates introduction portion.
Independent President candidate, Enzo Xenon Ochoa, on the other hand, utilized his introduction to run through his platforms. Subsequent to this was independent candidate and Internal Vice President (IVP) aspirant, Rafael De Castro’s introduction, which also contained his platforms.
Came the panel discussions wherein various issues were tackled, including the lack of student participation in student council leadership roles, calls for stricter qualifications for individuals running in either national and University elections, transparency within the Council, challenges faced by non-professional organizations in the establishment of CAB, as well as the participation of the University in pressing national issues.
During the presidential candidates’ panel discussion portion, the question posed towards the aspirants entailed an inquiry on what the root cause might be in the evident decrease of student involvement in intraschool leadership roles and what platforms they might suggest to remedy such phenomenon beyond internal and external activities, to which both candidates answered in correlation with encouraging student participation in University activities, disengaged with the primary question.
When the audience were given the opportunity to ask, one audience member notably asked Campbell on the unsafe experience of students despite existence of policies against sexual harassment, to which he answered, “Bilang isang student council officer, we will try our best to be accountable on every action and be transparent to the student na malaman ang ganitong mga kalakaran sa San Beda.”
However, said audience member vaguely remarked that “that is not what Campbell did” when given a chance to ask a follow up question. This caused the hosts to remind the audience to practice constructive criticisms in their questions.
Campbell responded that the MDA was not the proper avenue for such a question. “Ang Miting De Avance ay dapat ginagamit upang malaman ang plataporma ng bawat isa hindi para gamitin para siraan or i-hinder ang isang tao na pagsilbihan ang mga bawat Bedista,” he stated. Despite such an instance, the MDA proceeded as planned, absent of any disruptions and inappropriate remarks.
The event concluded after several questions from the audience for selected candidates.
The MDA was done ahead of the CAS SC 2026 General Election Day on April 17 and the implementation of a “silent day” or the prohibition of any direct or indirect campaigning on April 16, as imposed by ELBO.
(With reports from Nicko Dela Vega and Bianca Ashley Bitanga)