Lawmakers call for passage of bills on SK abolition

MANILA, Philippines - Administration lawmakers have called for swift action on pending bills in the House of Representatives on reforming or abolishing the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) as the barangay elections are set to be held on Oct. 28.

The SK is a barangay-based youth government whose members are elected along with barangay officials.

Over a dozen bills on abolishing or reorganizing the SK were filed during the 15th Congress and remain docked in the House committees on revision of laws, youth, and on local government.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is reportedly planning to formally ask the 16th Congress to approve a measure abolishing the SK.

Caloocan City Rep. Edgar Erice and Western Samar Rep. Mel Senen Sarmiento in separate statements called on the pertinent committees to immediately act on the measures once they are refiled.

Erice, who earlier branded the SK as the “school of corruption,” said abolishing the youth group before the barangay elections in October will save government at least P1.1 billion in election expenses.

About 42,000 seats for SK chairperson and 300,000 seats for SK council will be up for grabs in the polls.

“The billion-peso budget can be reverted to the national treasury and re-allocated to increase appropriations for new school buildings,” he said.

He suggested that his colleagues start conducting dialogues with barangay and SK officials on the matter so the committees can have their inputs this early.

Quezon City Rep. Winston Castelo earlier proposed the scrapping of the budget for SK as an item in the overall barangay budget, saying this would stop corruption in the youth organization.

He said the SK’s corruption emanates from its leaders’ access to public funds and that “a budget-less SK would be the appropriate antidote for that.”

Earlier, election lawyer Romulo Macalintal called for the abolition of SK on the belief that it is not serving its purpose of providing the youth with political training.

Macalintal claimed that most of those running for SK posts are children of politicians, worsening the problem on political dynasties.

He also cautioned that many SK officials have also been exposed to mishandling of budget and the practice of regular politicians not to accept defeat during elections.

The Comelec shared Macalintal’s opinion and the poll body might come out with a resolution urging President Aquino to ask legislators to postpone the conduct of SK elections scheduled simultaneously with the barangay polls on Oct. 28.

The Comelec expects that through the postponement, it will be proven that the country can do without the SK, thus leading to its abolition.

Quezon City Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte expressed support yesterday to the call from various sectors to abolish the SK, but she maintained that the government should ensure that the youth is properly represented in the policymaking process of the government.

“I support the abolition of Sangguniang Kabataan in its present setup. But we have to make sure that there are venues for the youth to participate in policymaking,” she said.

Belmonte said she believes the need for youth participation in the government, but noted that the present SK setup is far from the ideal way through which the younger generation could actively take part.

She said there are different local special bodies such as the Barangay Development Council or the City Development Council where the youth can actively participate in government.

“We have managed to empower senior citizens, women’s groups, LGBTs (lesbians, gays, bisexual and transgender) and PWDs (persons with disabilities) and other sectors in this way, so why not the youth?” she added.

Instead of SK, Belmonte said the government should make it mandatory for the youth to be represented in various local councils where they can push their agenda without the need to allot them huge amounts of money.

According to Belmonte, the budget allotted to the SK in the present setup exposes the youth to traditional politics, which might affect their idealism.

“Often, they (youth) are used as pawns by those around them whom they look to for advice, in order to access the huge amounts of public funds representing the SK budget for personal gain,” Belmonte added.

Reform, not abolish SK

Sen. JV Ejercito said that instead of abolishing the SK he proposed to reform the system to make it more responsive to the present times.

Ejercito told reporters during the weekly Kapihan sa Diamond Hotel in Manila that abolishing the SK is not logical.

“If there is a problem in the SK we should reform it rather than abolish it just like that. Shutting it down completely takes away the voice of the youth and robs them their privilege to perform community service,” he said.

The senator said he is proposing a bill, dubbed as the “Sangguniang Kabataan Empowerment Act of 2013,” which seeks to reform and correct the flaws in the SK.

Meanwhile, poll watchdog Consortium on Electoral Reforms (CER) said calls to abolish the SK should be studied carefully because the system is needed to train the youth for governance.

CER executive director Ramon Casiple said that while SK has not resulted in any “substantial change” in the country’s politics, its outright abolition is uncalled for.

“I don’t agree that it should be abolished outright. We first have to review it and then make the necessary corrections. Whether we like it or not, we need that kind of institution to train our youth on politics, especially now that we don’t have a genuine political party system,” he added.– With Sheila Crisostomo, Janvic Mateo, Perseus Echeminada