Lawmaker proposes SK officials to be appointed

MANILA, Philippines - A senior leader of the House of Representatives proposed yesterday that officers of the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) be appointed instead of being elected.

“The dismal number of registrants for the SK and the poor turnout on election day are clear indications of the fact that the SK, through an election process, has lost its meaning,” Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II said.

“Better have them appointed by the local barangay council upon recommendation of the barangay chairman,” he said.

However, Gonzales proposed no relatives by consanguinity or affinity within the fourth civil degree of any member of the barangay council shall be appointed an officer of the youth organization.

SK officers were elected along with barangay chairmen and other council members last Oct. 25. It is estimated that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) spent at least P3 billion for the village-level elections.

Gonzales said the government would save money if SK officers were appointed instead of elected.

He said young people are apparently losing interest in the Sangguniang Kabataan, which is a Marcos-era creation.

The government has to find ways to get them more actively involved in community affairs, he added.

For his part, Comelec law division chief Ferdinand Rafanan proposed the SK should be transferred to the supervision of schools.

“Let us strengthen this organization through the school system since many SK officers and members are students,” he said.

Rafanan said allowing schools to supervise the youth organization would insulate young leaders from politics.

It could also make them more disciplined since educational institutions imposed a more rigid standard of discipline than political groupings like the barangay, he added.

In many areas last Monday, there were few who voted for their barangay officials. Fewer still were those who came out to choose their SK officers.

In some barangay communities, there were even ties among barangay and SK candidates, which had to be broken through toss coin.

In other areas, the election was so hotly contested that candidates and their supporters resorted to violence.

A ranking official of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) also sought to abolish the SK altogether.

CBCP Episcopal Commission on the Youth, Legaspi Bishop Joel Baylon called for the abolition of the SK elections in saying the youth has been exposed to a culture of vote buying and other election irregularities.

Baylon said the SK elections “has failed in teaching the young the values of democracy and the skills for good governance. Far from being an empowering presence, it has become a corrupting influence on our youth.”