On September 9 and 13, 2022 respectively, the Student-Pupil Government (SPG) and SPTA (School Parent-Teacher Association held their live and online elections for the first time in more than two years of hiatus.

With the leadership and guidance of Sir Vlademer Cuarez, the SPG Adviser, pupils from Grade 4 to Grade to 6 were able to conduct the election proceedings from the nominations, campaign, voting, and declaration of winners. On September __, 2022, presidents and vice presidents from all the sections of Grade 4, 5, and 6 convened in VI-Rizal Classroom for the nomination of candidates for the following positions: President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Auditor, PIO, and the level representatives. After the nominations, two parties were formed, and they started working on their platforms. A day after the nominations, the two parties visited all the sections per grade level for the presentation of candidates and to lay out their platforms and other plans. Each candidate had a chance to introduce themselves and interacted with their fellow learners. The “live” and “online” elections was held in the ICT Room. Ms. Charlyn Garcia, the ICT/ Comelec Coordinator oriented the learners on the guidelines during the online elections. Elections started at around 9 in the morning and ended at around 2 in the afternoon. The proclamation and presentation of the winners were also announced on the same day after all votes were casted and counted as reflected in the Google Forms.

When asked about the challenges he encountered during the process, Sir Vlademer noted, “We encountered challenges in terms of time and schedule. Because the day of the election campaign was also the schedule of the first communion of most of the SPG Candidates.” He furthered by saying “Since the schedule is already fixed and I already asked permission to all the grade leaders about the room-to-room campaign, we just moved the time and started with the campaign after the first communion of the candidates. Luckily, we were able to finish the activity on time with the presence of everyone.”

Likewise, the same procedure was done during the election proceedings for the SPTA Elections last September 13, 2022. HRPTA Presidents as well as some proxy members participated in the choosing the next set of SPTA Officers for the school year 2022-2023. Presidents of each class from SPED until Grade 6, convened in the ICT Room. Also present are the grade level representatives, the ICT/ Comelec Chairperson – Ms. Charlyn Garcia, Master Teachers, and the principal – Mrs. Ma. Carina L. Bautista. The proceedings started at around 2:00 in the afternoon with the Preliminary Activities which were spearheaded by the former SPTA President Mrs. Jacqueline Lobete. The guidelines during the elections as well as the usage of the tablets for voting were discussed and presented by Ms. Charlyn Garcia, the ICT-in-charge. Parents were tasked to vote for 10 nominees coming from their end and 5 nominees coming from the teacher-representatives. Only those 10 nominees will vote for the SPTA positions. As soon as the votes were cast, ten of the highest ranking names were considered. From there, the ten parents will nominate and vote again for the alloted positions.

When asked about her thoughts on the exercise of live and online voting, Mrs. Jacqueline Lobete, the former SPTA President, mentioned “Yes sa fast and accurate number of votes talagang napabilis hindi na po kagaya ng dati napakahirap po magbilangan ng kamay, kung sino po ang nakataas ang kamay. Doon po 💯% na okey maganda po talaga.” ([The Elections] are fast and accurate. Votes are counted easily and quickly. Unlike in the past, when we have to count the votes by raising of hands. It is 100% very impressive.)

This year’s elections are truly remarkable as it boast the use of the newest and latest innovations such as using the tablets, casting votes through Google Forms, and getting real time results. Learners as well as parents were able to maximize the gadgets for live and online voting. There is less manual counting and more time in planning. Of course, this would not be possible if not for the hard work of Ms. Charlyn Garcia, who planned and led the activity. And as she promised, “This is not the end of the future innovations that will happen to BESCentral”.