A Twitter account of a student council expressed willingness to join a street protest of another school’s student council in a very casual manner.
Posts about holding street demonstrations surface after the partial, unofficial tally of the elections were released on Monday evening.
Ferdinand Marcos Jr. leads the presidential race with nearly 31 million votes, according to the latest partial, unofficial tally by the Commission on Elections.
He is followed by Vice President Leni Robredo by a wide margin with 14.6 million votes.
Amid these figures, the Twitter account of the University of the Philippines University Diliman Student Council made a casual invite to their followers to the streets.
“Takits sa lansangan!” the tweet reads.
In an unusual move, the University of Santo Tomas Student Council quote-retweeted this and said that they will also join UP students in their endeavor.
The tweet was also written in a casual, amicable manner.
“Sama po kami hehe,” the tweet reads.
sama po kami hehe https://t.co/lhiZIa05y7
— UST Central Student Council (@UST_CSC) May 9, 2022
This interaction has so far gathered 14.1k likes, 2,667 retweets and 306 quote-retweets.
The school solidarity shown between two supposedly rival universities was quickly noticed by the students.
They cheered them for making a stand amid the perceived dismal election results so far.
“This is my multiverse of madness,” one Twitter user said.
“I’m so proud of this community (crying emoji) GO USTE!” another user tweeted.
The Varsitarian, the official student publication of UST, later confirmed the USTCSC is circulating a message that invited students to stage an electoral protest in front of the Commission on Elections Office-National Capital Region Office.
CSC Secretary Arnet Paguirigan told the Varsitarian that the initiative came from UP Diliman University Student Council launched this initiative.
CSC Secretary Arnet Paguirigan tells the Varsitarian that the council is behind the circulating message (screenshot below), but the initiative was launched by the UP Diliman University Student Council. pic.twitter.com/8eU91maexR
— The Varsitarian (@varsitarianust) May 9, 2022
According to the message, they set a program outside Comelec’s headquarters in Intramuros, Manila.
Those who wish to join are encouraged to wear UST shirts.
The UP Office of the Student Regent, the student representative in UP’s Board of Regents, also made a stronger call to their community.
“No classes under a Marcos presidency. UP students, walk out!” the student regent said.
NO CLASSES UNDER A MARCOS PRESIDENCY. UP STUDENTS, WALK OUT!
— UP Office of the Student Regent (@uposr) May 9, 2022
Their tweet immediately blew up, garnering 195,000 likes, 33,100 retweets and 4,700 quote-retweets as of writing.
JUST IN: “NO CLASSES UNDER A MARCOS PRESIDENCY”
The Sanggunian, the Committee on Graduate Student Concerns, the ALS Student Council, and the ASMPH Student Council have declared encouragement for an academic walkout.#Blueprint2022 pic.twitter.com/Q1rTUqpNo8
— The GUIDON (@TheGUIDON) May 9, 2022
Hours earlier, following the release of the partial, unofficial results, some reports stated that groups of supporters of the tandem of Robredo and Sen. Kiko Pangilinan trooped to Plaza Rizal in Naga, to hold a prayer rally for preferred candidates.
