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On July 11, 2024, the COMELEC formally upheld the integrity of the election and officially recognized Clarence Parungao as the new Commissioner for the SoC CSO. Subsequently, on July 13, the CSC-SoC announced this information to the public.

A meeting was held by the HAU School of Computing Student Council (HAU USG CSC-SoC) with all SoC organization heads to discuss adherence to the new constitution and the appointment of a new SoC CSO Commissioner on July 4, 2024. The election was scheduled on July 6, 2024, at 8:00 PM, with Mr. Mark Lemuel Furton, the SoC COMELEC Commissioner to witness the proceedings.

At the election, Multimedia Aficionados for Interested Artists (MAFIA) President Bianca Velasquez nominated their Public Relations Officer, Luis Miguel Frigillana. Code Geeks (CG) President John Gabriel Perez nominated Clarence Lane Parungao, a dedicated CG nominee. On the other hand, The Cybersecurity Intelligence Alliance (CSIA) and League of Outstanding Programmers (LOOP) were unable to appoint a nominee for the said position.

The Cybersecurity Intelligence Alliance (CSIA) President Rivera explained, “Actually, meron po kaming nominee [for the CSO Commissioner], hindi lang po siya nakapagconfirm agad and nag tanong naman si SOC Governor Francisco Olpindo IV if we want to move the election [to a later date for their nominee]. I answered not to move the election because I don’t want to take everyone’s time.”

The League of Outstanding Programmers (LOOP) President Garcia stated, “While some nominees are highly qualified, their existing commitments within our organization and others limit their capacity to take on the demanding role of being the Commissioner. This unfortunately led to them declining the offer.”

It was also mentioned on the meeting that Parungao is not an officer of Code Geeks, yet she was the nominee from the organization. President Perez explained, “Yung naging thinking process ko sa pagpick sakanya [as the CSO nominee] is dahil nakasama ko siya sa mga projects ko noon sa past term ko as CSC [Councilor] nakita ko yung potential niya as a student leader. Meron siyang initiative masipag tas friendly, feel ko kasi enough na yon para pumasok sa ganitng klaseng position [SoC CSO Commissioner] then along the run alam ko naman na magogrow sya as a CSO.”

The voting concluded with a 4 to 1 majority in favor of Parungao.

News by Jamie Bito-on