#zoe garalde

[upismediacenter]

UPIS elects new student leaders for A.Y. 2026-2027

The UPIS Commission on Elections (COMELEC), composed of members of the Senior Council, held the Pamunuan ng Kamag-aral (PKA) and Year-Level Organization (YLO) elections for the Academic Year 2026-2027.

The student elections were conducted online, with the UPIS COMELEC overseeing the process alongside the candidates. Official online ballot forms were sent out to the students through Google Classrooms as part of the voting system implemented for this year’s elections.

To begin the preparation of the upcoming student elections, UPIS students and candidates participated in the Miting de Advance for grades 3-6 and 7-10 PKA and YLO elections which was held via Zoom on the 27th of April. Its aim was to allow students to view and engage in the candidates’ final campaign for their respective parties. It featured a question and answer portion where a party and independent candidates were given the opportunity to showcase and explain their platforms to the student body. Voting officially began on April 28 through a digital ballot form distributed via Google Classroom and closed on April 30. 

The Winning Parties 

Official Results were released on May 7, 2026. Seen in the following tables below are the elected parties for the Academic Year 2026-2027.

The KABAYANIHAN partylist, headed by Aufi Severos, promotes programs that make learning more engaging and participative for students. Their plans include activities such as an Escape Room challenge where students have to answer questions in order to escape, as well as Human Number Line, an activity where students arrange themselves in ascending order to encourage communication and cooperation skills among classmates. They also proposed The Marshmallow Architecture, which develops creativity, teamwork, and problem-solving skills through tower-building activities. With the full slate of KABAYANIHAN being elected, the party aims to push through with these projects, creating a more interactive and enjoyable learning environment for students

For the 7-10 elections, the full partylist of “LIKH” won the elections, introducing 4 major platforms under the acronym “LIKA”, which reflect the values and global they aim to promote within the student community. Led by Patrick Batigue, the party advocates for inclusivity, student service, community empowerment, and principled leadership. “L” stands for Lahat Kasama, which emphasizes inclusivity and involvement among students, while “I” represents Isko Paglingkuran, a platform focused on providing reliable student services and support for students facing academic and personal struggles. “K,” or Komunidad, I-angat, highlights unity and community empowerment in addressing challenges together, and “A,” or Aangkla sa Prinsipsyo, promotes honesty, transparency, and accountability in leadership. Through these initiatives, the party aims to create a more supportive, united, and student-centered environment within the UPIS community. 

The AETHER partylist, headed by Erin Monique Velasco, focuses on a platform that serves their fellow classmates academically, and a student body that creates connection. By promoting strong communication, they wish to encourage other students to feel safe in their school environment. Their party promises to conduct projects such as online reviewers, raffles, an interactive bulletin board, and a shop facilitated by them, that all offer a helping hand to not just their batchmates but to other students of the UPIS community as well. With their full party winning the elections, they wish to officially push through with these projects in the coming academic year. 

The TELEPONO partylist, headed by Amanda Beatrice Evasco, won with their full slate, advocating for creating meaningful connections between every student to provide their batchmates with a memorable 8th Grade experience. Each member expressed their support for quality education, organization, integrity, and upholding the core values of UPIS. The party also endorsed future projects to be held named ‘What’s UP There?’ that provides their batchmates with materials for academic and emotional support, ‘Benta31’ that is helpful for student-owned businesses, ‘DecBoard’ where they design bulletin boards with recycled materials, and other meaningful projects to lend a hand to their fellow students. 

BIDLISIW means “rays of the rising sun”, with this winning partylist led by their president Josel Angeleen Apdian. For them, this holds a profound meaning which makes them stand with their slogan which states “sa bawat tanong at pag-aalinlangan, BIDLISIW ang pag-asa na lagi mong maasahan”. Due to their batch having some detachment, their partylist aims to build a stronger sense of communication by building a community that aims to help and uplift one another. With this, their main goal is to improve the unity within their batch. They promote unity, open-mindedness, and respect while upholding the proper decorum with the help of their leadership. 

The elected partylist SCinta led by their president Elin Danielle Lim, aims to prioritize students’ well-being and promotes low stress and balanced approach to school requirements. For them to create a memorable year, they support personal wellness and lasting experiences. With this, they have a Reviewer Distribution Services which emphasizes on helping their batchmates academically by providing interactive reviewers through online documents.

The Purpose of the Election Process COMELEC Chairperson and President of the outgoing Senior Council, Angela Masangkay, shared that the election process follows a strict set of guidelines based on the student handbook, which are implemented annually to ensure fairness. The screening procedures that all winning candidates went through are also considered vital and are conducted to verify that all aspiring student-leaders meet the required qualifications before being officially recognized. She explained that all requirements are equally important, and failure to comply with even one may result in disqualification. 

Chairperson Masangkay shared that one of the main challenges this year was the shift from a planned face-to-face set up to an online election, which required adjustments in schedules— aside from other challenges such as delays in document submissions, errors in candidacy forms, and difficulty contacting some candidates due to the online set up. Despite these challenges, the COMELEC continues to emphasize the importance of participating and encouraging students to keep voting wisely in the coming academic years.

//by Zoe Garalde & Caily Destajo

[upismediacenter]

The UPIS Media Center hosts MCLive to close A.Y. 2025-2026

On May 8, 2026, the UPIS Media Center (MC) celebrated the end of classes with their annual event, MCLive, where students get to showcase their diverse talents through singing and performing.

This year’s reiteration, randoMantiC: MCLive, was inspired by a famous OPM song by James Reid entitled “Randomantic” and from the SSH track’s recent festival, MakilahoC: SSH Fest 2026. With the event focused on the importance of partaking in different acts of love, whether small or spontaneous, its main goal is to encourage the audience to build a deeper connection with their communities and to continue fostering bonds with one another. Through donating a portion of the event’s proceeds, this year’s MCLive also acted as a fundraiser for the UP Transport Group’s jeepney drivers that aims to provide aid to the jeepney operators affected by the surging fuel prices.

In the last few weeks of concluding the academic year, the organization set out to turn MCLive into a sub-event in the recently designed SSH Fest. This gave opportunity for participants to immerse themselves in online seminars about editorial cartooning, photojournalism, and storymaking, then conclude the experience by celebrating the importance of social sciences and humanities through MCLive. “Since MakilahoC is the first-ever SSH Fest in UPIS, we really had to make plans from scratch, all while handling Sulyap (yearbook) and class pictures,” the Editor-in-Chief of the UPIS Media Center 2026, Miss Justice Aguinaldo, shared as the biggest struggle of organizing such a school-wide event. As MC 2026 was the first ever batch to hold MCLive as a culmination of the SSH Fest, encountering unforeseen setbacks for this first-time event was one of their greatest challenges.  

Miss Aguinaldo, also expressed how MCLive is made to be a platform for students to showcase artistic talents whether it be through singing, dancing, or poetry— in front of a live audience. This links to one of the event’s objectives which is to allow participants to remain politically aware of current issues whether it be through academic advocacies or through expression of one’s art.

The event hosted eight performances to turn the event full of spirit and to showcase the talents of UPIS students. The performances included student-formed bands Core of Spades, °Fahrenheit, MAGIN, Dog Youth, Smudge, CTRL-S; and solo performers Kei Bona and SoupBoy — some of whom already performed in this year’s Battle of the Bands. 

The event also featured several concessionaire booths, providing outlets for student-led initiatives and other vendors to share various products ranging from food, accessories, and interactive activities. The booths included Media Center 2027, Media Center 2028, Cookie Crafts, Beadbadoobead, Latinachos, Kriselda Freedom, Oh My Unnie, Manghuhula, and Aurt Fam.

“Planning wasn't easy, but I like to believe it brought out the best in us,” Miss Aguinaldo shared on how they handled and organized their last event together as UPIS Media Center 2026. Taking on new roles, pushing themselves beyond their comfort zones, and enhancing their individual abilities were all worth it as MCLive 2026 ended the students’ Friday night. 

//by Zoe Garalde & Hannah Wadi