BAYBAY CITY, Leyte — If it were up to the VSU students, they would either elect Mr. Mark Michael Unlu-cay of the College of Agriculture and Food Science, or Ms. Hexelsa Joy Nuñez of the College of Veterinary Medicine as the new president of the University Supreme Student Council (USSC).
In a mock poll, the two newly elected Presidents of their own college councils were the most popular choices among students of Visayas State University’s main campus.
CAFS President-elect Unlu-cay clinched 40.5% of the votes, while CVM President-elect Nuñez follows a bit behind with 16.9% of the votes. College of Engineering President-elect Ma. Christine Cerna and College of Management & Economics President-elect Simplicio Berdos Jr. come in third and fourth with 11.5% and 11%, respectively.
The survey was conducted during the USSC General Assembly on March 3, 2016, Thursday, at the VSU Gym. A total of 1078 students participated in the mock poll which asked, “If it were up to you, who would you vote for USSC President?”
The poll then lists down all the presidents-elect from each college and branch campus of the VSU system. The College Supreme Student Councils held their elections the week before.
Winner takes all
However, VSU students cannot directly vote for USSC President. According to the USSC constitution, the presidents of the CSSCs will elect the officers for the USSC from among themselves.
The USSC President will sit as Student Regent in the VSU Board of Regents, the highest governing body in the university system.
If the presidents-elect were to listen to the poll results, Unlucay and Nuñez will stand in a tie in a winner-takes-all system.
| College | Winner | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| CAFS | Mark Michael Unlucay (CAFS) | 74.6% |
| CAS | Hexelsa Joy Nuñez (CVM) | 30.2% |
| CE | Mark Michael Unlucay (CAFS) | 40.7% |
| CFES | Alvin Ebero (CFES) | 46.7% |
| CME | Simplicio Berdos Jr. (CME) | 45% |
| CN | Larrell Jun F. Andrade (CN) | 55.6% |
| COE | Ma. Christine Cerna (COE) | 43.4% |
| CVM | Hexelsa Joy Nuñez (CVM) | 87.5% |
Unlucay gets his home college (CAFS) and the College of Education (CE), while Nuñez gets her home college (CVM) and the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS). Meanwhile, the other presidents got the majority vote from their own respective colleges.
But the poll is not binding, and the presidents may vote for their own choice. Not all presidents are keen on running, and the choices may go down to two or three, the Amaranth has learned. The poll has not included students from the VSU branch campuses, since they were not present during the assembly.
Anything is possible during the USSC election, which is scheduled sometime in April.