04/05/2026
Statement of CatSU Debate Society on the conduct of CatSU Synchronous USC/CSC Election 2026.
The Catsu Synchronous USC-CSC Elections 2026, where the entire student population of Catanduanes State University participates, is currently facing major impediments, primarily regarding the lack of candidates for the positions in the University Student Council and the College Student Councils.
The filing of candidacy started last April 22, 2026, and was supposed to last until April 28 only (as per the schedule posted by the CatSU COMELEC). As of April 30, the candidates for Catsu USC posts remain insufficient to conduct a proper election. Only 1 candidate is listed for the presidency, 1 pending candidate for the vice presidency, and 2 senators (out of 8 seats). Other aspirants for the College Student Council posts are either unchallenged or have no candidates at all.
Citing this unprecedented event, the CatsU COMELEC was forced to issue ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐. ๐๐๐, ๐. ๐๐๐๐, which extends the filing until noon of May 4, 2026, thereby adjusting the schedule of the entire election period. This only temporarily resolves the issue, assuming that the extension will prompt students to file for candidacy.
However, should no one add to the list of candidates for the positions, especially for the post of the Student Regent, is it still actually an election?
According to Black's Law Dictionary, an election is the process of selecting one person from among several candidates to discharge certain duties in a state, corporation, or society. Would it still be an election if there are no other options?
The CatSU USC Constitution and By-laws and the newly amended Election Code (which did not go through a general assembly) also lack conditions regarding unopposed seats. There are no conditional provisions such as where, ๐ช๐ง ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ข ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐จ๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ญ๐ข๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ซ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ท๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ถ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ญ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ. Would it not be understandable that if a certain student is representing the whole student population, they must have been voted for by most of the population?
Additionally, as of April 29, as confirmed by the COMELEC, their budget proposal remains either cut or unapproved. Should the rushed and unprepared CatsU USC-CSC Synchronous Elections 2026 push through, it would only be a waste of thousands of student funds.
Therefore, we, the CatSU Debate Society, firmly call for a declaration of a Failure of Elections. Given the aforementioned circumstances, proceeding with the elections would not uphold the representation and essence that electoral processes seek to maintain.
