By Shayne Elizabeth T. Flores

Following the Far Eastern University Commission on Elections’ (FEU COMELEC) decision to decline the petition appealing the late submission of their FEU Central Student Organization (CSO) standard bearer Katherine Nicolas’ Certificate of Candidacy (COC), Isanliyab Servant Leaders’ Union (ISLU) clarified their side and attributed the delay to unforeseen circumstances in an official statement released last April 16.

“During the recently concluded filing of candidacy for the elections, Isanliyab ensured due diligence by completing all required documents for each candidate participating in the election. However, during the filing of candidacy, our Isanliyab standard bearer, Katherine Lei Nicolas, was not proclaimed as a candidate for FEUCSO President,” the statement read.

Upon convening an Electoral Tribunal to deliberate on ISLU’s appeal, the FEU COMELEC released Resolution No. 5, Series of 2026 to officially dismiss the party’s petition seeking consideration of the late submission.

The resolution underlined that “under Article VII, Section 3 of the Omnibus Election Code (OEC) of 2026, the late submission of COC requirements constitutes a ground for automatic disqualification, and the COC of the ISLU candidate for President was filed beyond the prescribed deadline.”

Moreover, the petition also failed to obtain the required two-thirds vote of the Commission based on Article V, Section 8, thus warranting the dismissal.

According to ISLU, the late submission is due to ‘last-minute’ developments involving Nicolas’ personal decisions in running for the elections as she initially decided not to proceed.

The partylist also cited other factors that contributed to the delay such as limited time frame in the election calendar and technical issues that resulted in the delayed release of requirements.

“With this, Isanliyab stands firm that the party acted in good faith by adhering to due diligence in submitting all required documents and ensuring that all candidates are ready, both in experience and readiness, as servant-leaders. The party asserts that the resulting delay is not intentional, but a consequence of events that were both within and beyond the control of the party,” the statement added.

While ISLU asserted the importance of accountability, they emphasized that the issue should not be used in propagating false scrutiny, political assassination, and smear campaigns against individuals with no proven negative track record.

ISLU standard bearer aspirant’s statement
A day after the partylist’s statement, ISLU’s supposed FEUCSO presidential candidate and incumbent treasurer posted a separate statement on her Facebook account to clarify what happened in her late COC submission.

In photo, ISLU standard bearer Katherine Nicolas addresses non-proclamation.

“It feels difficult for me to write this but I owe it to myself and to the students to tell what happened… What happened to my presidential candidacy wasn’t just a personal decision, it was driven by different factors — broken promises, constant pressure, and the lack of transparency,” the statement began.

She stated that she initially agreed to run as ISLU’s standard bearer last March upon being promised of ‘changes’ within the system.

“I believed that I can do more than what I did this year and after being promised that this year, the party will stray away from the traditional politics that we’ve all witnessed for years — the kind that prioritizes winnability rather than genuine service. I was also promised that certain people and alumni who don't align with the party’s ideologies won’t be part of ISLU’s decision-making. A lot more was promised but the truth is — nothing was different,” the incumbent treasurer expressed.

Citing the criticisms and pressure she felt throughout the process, Nicolas said that she backed out weeks before the filing period.

However, an hour after the COC submission deadline, ISLU reached out to her once again to urge her to become the party’s standard bearer.

“An hour after the filing deadline, I kept receiving messages and [calls] from the party telling me that the party needs a standard bearer and telling me that I shouldn’t leave the CSO without continuity. I made it clear that I did not have the papers needed to qualify as a candidate yet they asked me to push through and said that they’ll handle everything as long as I file my COC,” Nicolas recounted.

The FEUCSO treasurer also added that the same position was offered to someone else at the same time as her, which she underlined as reinforcing ‘the same patterns and tactics.’

“I share this not simply to recount what happened, but to shed light on the realities that often remain hidden behind student politics — realities that affect the kind of leadership students ultimately receive. When systems are shaped by internal negotiations, pressure, and political convenience, students are left with choices that do not fully represent them. Forgetting to humanize every student leader and the students to serve,” the statement further read.

COMELEC, Kadiwa’s sides

Meanwhile, in an interview with FEU Advocate prior to ISLU’s statement, FEU COMELEC Co-Chairperson Josh Miguel Tagle revealed that all candidates submitted beyond the set 12 p.m. deadline last April 13.

“Basically, lahat sila (all of them were) technically late. All candidates, if we're gonna strictly follow the OEC talaga, everyone was late. We would have no elections. So, ‘yun ‘yung naging struggle namin (that became our struggle),” he said.

As a result, FEU COMELEC gave the aspiring candidates leeway for consideration, particularly those who submitted minutes after the initial deadline.

While all COCs were considered late, Tagle maintained that ISLU’s case was different as they submitted their documents and petition hours beyond 12 p.m.

“Nagbigay kami ng leeway na (We gave a leeway that) anyone who is attempting to file at that period, 12 p.m., i-consider na. May mga [nag-submit ng] (There were those who submitted at) 12:05 p.m… 12:15 p.m., okay pa ‘yun… Pero iba kasi ‘yung case ng petition ng Isanliyab (But Isanliyab’s case was different). Because they filed their petition… plus, the submission of their documents at around 5:20 p.m. sona-encode siya [ng] 5:20 p.m.,” he explained.

The leeway was also done in consideration to the electoral aspirants’ struggles in processing the required documents, prompting FEU COMELEC to allow incomplete submissions.

“We already gave an instruction na,sige, since a lot of people are struggling with the documents, magbigay na kayo ng documents kahit kulang… Kasi ‘yun nga, we know that there are some offices, like the [Office of] Student Discipline, na ‘yung mga clearances na hindi pa naibibigay sa mga students (We allowed them to submit even though their documents are incomplete because we know that there are offices like the Office of Student Discipline that hasn’t released the documents to students yet),” Tagle added.

However, FEU COMELEC noted that there was no attempt on ISLU’s side to submit any of their FEUCSO standard bearer’s documents around the set deadline.

“Pero nangyari kasi, they didn't give [anything] at all. ‘Yung [submission] ng documents is 5:20 p.m. So, wala silang binigay at all noong 12 p.m. kahit COC man lang or Data Privacy Act (They only gave the documents at 5:20 p.m. They did not submit anything at 12 p.m. at all, neither the COC nor the Data Privacy Act),” Tagle said.

As such, this lack of apparent intention to submit the COC beforehand and the huge time gap between ISLU’s and others’ late submissions led FEU COMELEC to rule against the former’s petition.

“The COMELEC ruledna… if nag-yes kami doon, medyo violation of the OEC. And parang we're giving too much relaxation of the OEC if iko-consider pa namin si 5:20 p.m. (The COMELEC ruled that approving the petition would be a violation of the OEC. We would be giving too much relaxation of the OEC if we’re going to consider the 5:20 p.m. submission),” the co-chairperson remarked.

On the other hand, while the opposing party did not fully disclose their side, Kadiwa Student Coalition Chairperson Sydrix Damolkis acknowledged FEU COMELEC’s decision.

“With this incident, we can already see that the integrity of the OEC and then the IRR [Implementing Rules and Regulations] have been upheld by the COMELEC. And then with that, we can already see that… there is fairness and integrity that have been integrated for this,” he stated in a separate interview.

Last April 15, the 2026 FEU Elections saw a low qualified candidate turnout of 64, in contrast to the previous year’s 133.

However, this may be subject to change as FEU COMELEC opened the appeals for disqualified candidates until last April 17 as per Resolution No. 8, Series of 2026.

(Photo by Sean Clifford Malinao/FEU Advocate)