The third time turned out to be a charm for 23-year-old Abelaine Trinidad as she was proclaimed the Third Generation Center Girl of MNL48 after she got the most number of votes in the MNL48 Third General Election, on “It’s Showtime” today (February 20).

After finishing Rank 2 in the First General Election and Rank 3 in the Second General Election, Abby finally secured the Center Girl position to lead the Third-Year members this year.

The MNL48 Third General Election is an annual event where fans get to choose who among their Oshis they think should be part of the Top 48, following the system of MNL48’s international sister group, AKB48. The said election started last March 2020 and ended last November 2020.

“Grabe hindi ko ineexpect bilang first generation member na ngayon na naging parte pa rin ng third generation member,” (Wow, I didn’t expect as a 1st generation member that I’ll also be a thrid generation member) Abby said. “Thank you so much sa binigay niyong opportunity kasi talagang tinulungan niyo ako mag-improve. Kaya po ako nandito dahil sa inyo. Kung wala po kayo wala din po dito. Thank you sa MNLoves, family and friends po. Kaya po ang dahilan kung bakit ako nandito.” (Thank you so much for the opportunity that you have given to me because you really helped me improve. And now I’m here because of you (support). If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be even here. Thank you to the MNLoves, and my family and friends.)

Coming in 2nd in this year’s general election is MNL48’s First Generation Center Girl, Sheki Arzaga while Maria Jamie Beatrice Alberto took the 3rd Rank. Completing the KAMI7 are MNL48 Ruth (Rank 4), Ella (Rank 5), Jan (Rank 6), and Andi (Rank 7). Adding to the Senbatsu roster are Jem, Yzabel, Gab, Alice, Princess, Lara, Coleen, Thea, and Tin.

Also included in the official members for the first time are MNL48 Kath (Rank 26), Klaryle (Rank 28), Jana (Rank 29), Rianna (Rank 33) and Lyza (Rank 35).

The new Senbatsu led by Abby, together with the Undergirls will start preparing for their 7th single.

Meanwhile, four of the Third General Election’s hashtags also trended on Twitter last Saturday. As of this writing, netizens have produced 600,000 tweets about the said election.

Stay tuned for updates on their latest single and other projects on MNL48’s official social media accounts on Facebook (fb.com/mnl48official), Twitter, Instagram, Kumu, and TikTok (@mnl48official) for more updates and exclusive content, and subscribe to its official YouTube channel.