UPAlumni.net

By Ben Arnold de Vera and Xavier Gravides
Philippine Collegian

The UP Alumni Association (UPAA) elections hullabaloo is far from over.

On the day scheduled for tallying votes and proclaiming the winners, the UPAA Committee on Elections (Comelec) deferred the proclamation of winners to hear College of Law alumnus Domingo Santiago’s Group of 23 (G 23)’s “motion to stop proclamation.”

The unofficial tally of votes show that the Group of 21(G 21) led by UP Los Baños alumna Nelia Teodoro-Gonzales secured 20 UPAA Board seats while G 23 snatched the three remaining seats. The G 21 candidates won over the other party’s candidates by an average of 2,000 votes.

The G 23 claimed that the G 21 won most seats due to “wholesale and systematic fraud.”

The complainants also urged the Comelec to reconsider giving about 2,800 previously disqualified alumni, who belong to their group, the chance to vote. Meanwhile, Former College of Mass Communication Dean Georgina Encanto, a G 21 candidate, claimed that the G 23 members wanted to reopen the precints for 2,000 more voters to “further democratize” the elections. Encanto said that this is what the G 23 needs to overturn the election results.

The G 21 members boycotted the said hearing. Encanto argued that the hearing was illegal since election rules state that appeals or complaints could only be filed five days after the proclamation of winners.

“Desperate attempt”
The G 23 claimed that more than 600 voters for the G 21 were not UP alumni.

The G 21, however, rebutted that the G 23’s allegation was a “desperate attempt” to delay the proclamation of election winners. They explained that election fraud on the G 21’s part was not possible since the party did not have access to ballots, list of voters, or any election material.

The G 23 also accused the other party of “smuggling” payments of alumni who did not beat the April 15 deadline for membership fee. The G 21 denied this, saying they have issued a bank check before April 15 under the name of Gonzales and in the presence of her lawyer as payment for the membership of other alumni.

Long delay
The official counting and tallying of votes should have ended on May 31 if not for a series of “inconsistencies” in the decisions of the Comelec that led the G 21 to file complaints to the Quezon City Regional Trial Court.

The G 21 previously brought to court two questionable envelopes from G 23 allies, containing lists of names of about 4,200 UP alumni reportedly applying for membership. Accompanying the envelopes was a bank check amounting to P500,000 allegedly for payment of membership fee.

According to the G 21 members, the lists submitted were flawed, as some of the alumni whose names were registered in them are deceased, while some have already withdrawn their ballots prior to their supposed membership application. As a result, the G 21 members moved to disallow the alumni, whose names appeared in the lists, to vote.

In court, both parties have agreed to move the date of canvassing of ballots from May 31 to June 16. Also, they agreed to allow only 1,500 qualified voters out of the 4,200 names submitted.

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