27/06/2026
๐๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฐ๐ถ๐น ๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ผ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น๐๐๐ฒ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ฒ, ๐ฆ๐๐๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ง๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฏ๐๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฒ๐
With the continued decline of student participation in campus, the University Student Council (USC) Senate and Supreme Student Tribunal (SST) now face a familiar quorum issue after the recently concluded 2026 Synchronized University Student Council-College Student Council (USC-CSC) Elections yielded only 34 of the 130 total elective positions in the universityโs two campuses.
๐ค๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐บ ๐๐ผ๐ป๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฟ๐๐บ
Akin to the previous year, the USCโs upper house will be unable to immediately convene as it has failed to reach a quorum of five for the eight-seat senate after the general polls has once again inducted only two senators.
To address the issue, senator-elect Samson V. Idanan, in a dialogue with the Statesman, revealed that the incoming administration is already negotiating with possible candidates to run in the special elections.
โManghihikayat na talaga kami na [โฆ] mag-run na talaga para sa special elections para hindi na umabot pa sa point na mag-a-appoint kami,โ Idanan shared.
Idanan himself was an appointed senator under the outgoing administration as last yearโs special elections fell short to meet the senateโs quorum requirement since only two more solons were voted into office.
Recalling the struggles of last yearโs senate, Idanan stated that the USC now aims for a full house to ensure that the upper house could fulfill its mandate regardless if some senators are unable to attend the plenary.
โ[โฆ] Kami dati lima langโpinaka-quorum na โyun, kaya kung waยฃa su saยฃo dai kami naka-function. So ang gaisip namo is talagang makua namo yung pinaka-maximum, which is the eight.โ Idanan furthered.
According to the senator-elect, a special election is tentatively scheduled for the last week of August.
๐๐ผ๐๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐
Facing a similar predicament, the judicial branch will struggle to constitute themselves after four collegesโthe College of Agriculture and Fisheries, the College of Business and Accountancy, the College of Health Sciences, and the College of Industrial Technologyโskipped the regular electoral cycle as no candidates filed for their local councils.
In an online correspondence, outgoing Chief Supreme Student Jethro Gonzales shared that, just like the previous year, the vacant prexy seats will once again lead to appointive delays in the judicial branch.
โIt would be very difficult to completely form the SST if there are no CSC Presidents to recommend Supreme Students from their respective colleges, [...] there is no other appointment process to address that. [...] Without them, wala ang Supreme Student Tribunal, unfortunately. Wala kami kung wala sila, โ Gonzales said.
Gonzales also expressed worry with the USC operating as โa three-legged table with a broken legโ, saying that the systems of checks and balances in the universityโs highest student government will be compromised.
โBecause of this USC systematic deadlock, maraming problema ang lilitaw. [...] Without anyone to right the wrongs, without a body making sure the wrongs are not even made in the first place, the future of student governance, student justice, and student rights is not looking so good,โ the supreme student cautioned.
He remains hopeful, however, that the incoming administration will actively โsmoothen the bumpsโ as to proactively prevent any more impasses in the USC.
As his capacity as the outgoing Chief Supreme Student, Gonzales further revealed that he is in the process of drafting a revised USC Constitution and plans to submit it to the incoming House of Legislature for consideration.
Having been marred by the same problem last academic year, the outgoing USC Senate was only able to convene as a legislative body around December while the former USC SST was concurred in February; both student institutions were effectively paralyzed for a semester.
