VINCENTIAN MARIAN YOUTH GREECE
together in FAITH, together in HOPE, together in LOVE for Christ!
VMY Greece convenes 1st General Assembly, elects its new EYC Officers
29 March 2022
VMY Greece convened its first ever General Assembly last March 27, 2022 at the Sisters of St. Joseph Hall located at 10 Charilaou Trikoupi St., Athens, Greece. A total of twenty-five (25) members, including its 3 Coordinators, have participated in the assembly.
Done to take in full effect its approved statutes, the assembly featured the election of the group’s Executive Youth Council (EYC) officers.
The assembly started with the group praying the Holy Rosary. Afterwards, the March birthday celebrants were greeted (both youth and parents) and some important announcements were relayed to the group.
Kuya Thad, one of VMY Greece's Coordinator and head of the Election Committee, formally opened the EYC election as he introduced the nine (9) candidates vying for the top 4 positions of the council, namely the President, the Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer. They were as follows with their respective candidacy spots:
Ivy Blaise Palope – President / Vice President
Hermiline Athina Bravo – Vice President / Secretary
Maria Crisalyn Sequina – Vice President / Secretary
Maria Helen Dela Rosa – Vice President / Treasurer
Mary Catherine Binibini – Secretary
George Nicolas Gupo – Treasurer
Alberto Mar Lomadilla – Treasurer
Julia Meneses - Treasurer
Roy Constantin Gascon - Treasurer
A roll call of each of the candidates was done along with their respective profiles shown onscreen providing a glimpse of their services to the association throughout the years.
Kuya Thad then asked Tita Marycel, also one of VMY Greece's Coordinators, to read to the assembly the relevant section of the group’s statutes that pertains to the Election Process (Section 14.6). Afterwards, he provided the rules and instructions on how the members of the assembly will cast their votes. Official ballots were provided to those who will cast their votes.
The EYC polls officially kicked off with the election of the President. Since there was only a single candidate running for the position of President, consequently the assembly floor was opened for an on-the-spot nomination. Kuya Thad then asked the members of the assembly as to who among them would also like to run for the presidency. Maria Dolores Pablico, eventually, took on the challenge and expressed her intentions to run for the presidency. She was then formally nominated by Hermiline Athina Bravo, seconded by Alberto Mar Lomadilla. Ms. Pablico's nomination paved the way for the election of the President to be done by casting votes from the assembly members through a secret ballot. And so one by one, each of the members were given their official ballots and casted their votes. Ballots were then dropped on the official ballot box.
Votes for the President were then checked and tallied by Tita Marycel and Tita Vicky, and also assisted by Tita Rovilyn. The results of the President election was then showed to the group as seen below:
The election was cut-off in the meantime as the group had a short break for lunch.
Subsequently after the lunch, the polls continued with the election of Secretary. Now two candidates,
namely, Mary Catherine Binibini and Hermiline Athina Bravo fought head to head for the position of Secretary.
As soon as the votes were casted, the following were the results of the Secretary election:
Having received the majority number of votes, with 16 votes out of the 27 total valid votes or 59.3%, Ivy Blaise Palope was unanimously declared as the new EYC President.
The election of the EYC Vice President followed immediately. 3 candidates were then announced vying for the position of Vice President, namely Hermiline Athina Bravo, Maria Helen Dela Rosa, and Maria Crisalyn Serquiña. Though Kuya Thad opened the floor again for an on-the-spot nomination, no one from the assembly did so. And so, the election for the position of Vice President began. Ballots were then distributed to the members of the assembly so as to cast their votes.
However, an absolute majority of votes was not casted on the 1st voting, and therefore a second ballot was conducted. This eventually resulted for Maria Crisalyn Serquiña winning the position of Vice President, having received 18 votes or 66.7% of the total number of votes.
Receiving 22 votes or 81.5% from the total number of votes casted, Mary Catherine Binibini eventually emerged as the new EYC Secretary.
Finally, the Treasurer position with 5 candidates running was then voted upon by the assembly. Upon casting of the votes, the following results have been seen:
Since no absolute majority was met, a second ballot was done to the 2 candidates who has received the highest number of votes. They were Roy Constantin Gascon and Julia Meneses. After the second ballot, Julia Meneses eventually was chosen as the new EYC Treasurer with her receiving 20 votes or 71.4% of the total number of votes casted.
Thanking the assembly for their participation, Kuya Thad concluded the election process and formally announced the newly-elected EYC officials as follows:
President: Ivy Blaise Palope
Vice-President: Maria Crisalyn Serquiña
Secretary: Mary Catherine Binibini
Treasurer: Julia Meneses
He congratulated the winners as well as the candidates and then closed the assembly with a group prayer.
