Adhika, UNLAD campaign ‘personally’ to student body
By Matthew Aviso and Eryn Kiunisala
Student Council (SC) campus parties Adhika and UNLAD held their campaign rallies earlier today, April 26, at the front and back lobbies, respectively.
Adhika alliance presents platforms
Adhika and their constituent Batch Council (BC) candidates held their campaign rally in the front lobby.
SC presidential candidate Philippe Bungabong began the campaign rally by introducing it as a stage to present their planned projects and platforms.
Each candidate from the alliance introduced themselves and spoke on what they stood for. Manawari (2021 BC candidates) were the first to speak, followed by Banyuhay (2021 candidates) and SC candidates, respectively.
After their introductions, the candidates spoke personally with members of the audience. The Student Council candidates from their alliance spoke to audience members on the left side of the front lobby, while Batch Council candidates were on the right side.
Asked about the format of their campaign rally, Ayel Awitan, SC Club Coordinating Head candidate answered, “First of all, we decided to introduce ourselves so the student body knows us. When we approach them, they would know na it’s us [who] are running.”
Sancia Soriano of 2022 BC party Manawari also said, “[We did] the [introduction] sa front so we can get the attention of the people, and the [interaction with the audience] sa side [of the front lobby], so we may be able to personally explain our projects and plans especially to our batchmates. Especially since we’re running for batch council — it will affect mostly our batch.”
UNLAD campaigns with green ribbons
UNLAD and their constituent BC candidates held their campaign rally in the Back Lobby, where they first introduced themselves as a party and encouraged everyone to wear green ribbons in support.
Afterwards, individual candidates went from table to table advocating their platforms while also entertaining questions.
BC candidates conversed with their own batchmates while SC candidates accommodated everyone. “We want to be more personal. Unlike a formal setting where there are long, prepared speeches, we want to get to actually talk to people. We want to be more candid,” Marla Abao, UNLAD’s SC presidential candidate, said on how they conducted the rally.
Abao continued, “We wish there could’ve been more people but we hope that the people we talked to are convinced and would campaign for us, too.”
An “interesting” election season
Some students, however, were displeased with how both parties’ rallies were conducted simuItaneously. Cody Baizas of 2019 remarked, “It’s sad how the campaigns are done at the same time. People would go to the party they support and that leaves less space for open-mindedness.”
Still, SC advisers Mr. Erin dela Cruz and Dr. Cristina Cristobal see the rallies as an interesting feature added to on-campus campaigning. Dr. Cristobal, who has been an SC adviser for more than a decade, said, “This is the first time something like this happened [in campus elections].”
On the elections this year, Sir dela Cruz said, “I think the elections this year are very interesting as all the candidates have shown exemplary leadership skills… [No matter who wins], it would be a win-win [situation] for us advisers.”
