by Ranjie Nocete | March 3, 2022
In the results released by SUGOD Silliman yesterday, Vice President Leni Robredo and her running mate Sen. Kiko Pangilinan topped the Silliman University mock elections for president and vice-president, respectively.
SUGOD project manager Carl Agunat said, “With all that has happened these past weeks, I believe that the result will recalibrate the students’ thoughts over a certain candidate.”
The mock election was conducted from February 21 to 27 with a total of 1,591 respondents from the undergraduate and graduate population of Silliman University.
The result showed that VP Robredo led the presidential preference who accumulated a total of 1109 votes (69.7%) and Sen. Pangilinan with 834 votes (52.4%) for vice-presidential preference.
VP Robredo was followed by former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. with 189 votes (11.9%), 43 votes (2.7%) for Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, 29 votes (1.8%) for Manila Mayor Isko Domagoso, 25 votes (1.6%) for Leodegario “Ka Leody” De Guzman, 10 votes (0.6%) for Sen. Manny Pacquiao, and 3 votes (0.2%) for Norberto Gonzales. Ernie Abella, Fai Mangondato, and Jose Montemayor, Jr. had no votes.
Meanwhile, Sen. Pangilinan was followed by Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte with 350 votes (22%), 55 votes (3.5%) for Doc Willie Ong, 55 votes (2.3%) for Sen. Vicente Sotto III, 24 votes (1.5%) for Walden Bello, 2 votes for (0.1%) Jose “Lito” Atienza, and 1 vote (0.06%) for Carlos Serapio. Rizalito David and Manny Lopez had no votes.
A total of 183 (11.5%) and 289 (18.2%) voters remained undecided for their presidential and vice-presidential candidates during the conduct of the mock election, respectively.
Agunat said, “The Silliman community really has this eagerness to fight or look for a leader that speaks for the truth and does not have an issue in terms of tax, in terms of educational background, in terms of platforms. So they’re really eyeing for leaders that could really alleviate the situation of the Philippines and secure [ensure] that this will be a clean election and clean Philippines in the next 6 years to come.”
He added that they plan to conduct a second mock election on May 28 to April 3 to “really know the position or stance of the students.”
However, Agunat said that the poll cannot predict the results of the actual election, “There are a lot of things that will happen in the coming days, in the coming months, presidentiables, candidates are still given the opportunity to continue to spread their platforms, have their rallies, their campaigns, and whatnot. There’s still a lot to expect from them.”
He encouraged all registered Sillimanians to vote on election day, revealing data from the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) that the Philippines has roughly 30 million youth voters, which comprises more than 50% of the voting population in the country.
“Let us use this right to shape our nation, voice out our concerns and our demands to the government, and take the challenge of securing the best leader not just for ourselves but for our family as well,” said Agunat.
