Sangguniang Kabataan

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Youth Council
Sangguniang Kabataan
Coat of arms or logo
Type
Type
History
Founded 1975
Disbanded 2013[1]
positions left unfilled[1]
Preceded by Kabataang Barangay
Seats 41,995 SK Chairmen
293,365 Councilors
Elections
Direct election
Last election
 October 2010
Meeting place
often the barangay hall
Basketball hoop with SK logo in Barangay Tungay, Santa Barbara, Iloilo

Sangguniang Kabataan ("youth council" in English), commonly known as SK, was a youth council in each barangay in the Philippines, before being put "on hold", but not quite abolished, prior to the 2013 barangay elections.[1] The council represented teenagers from 15 to 17 years old who have resided in their barangay for at least six months and registered to vote. It was the local youth legislature in the village and therefore led the local youth program and projects of the government. The Sangguniang Kabataan was an offshoot of the KB or the Kabataang Barangay (Village Youth) which was abolished when the Local Government Code of 1991 was enacted. The author[who?] eventually wanted to abolish SK because of allegations that this organization faces.[citation needed]

The SK Chairman led the Sangguniang Kabataan council. The Kagawads, or councilors, approved resolutions and appropriated the money allotted to the council. The Chairman automatically sat on the barangay council as ex officio member and was automatically chairman of the Committee on Youth and Sports, one of the standing committees in the village council.

Every Sangguniang Kabataan was federated into municipal and city federations, then city and municipal federations were federated into a provincial federation. A barangay's SK Chairman represented the barangay in the municipal or city federation. The presidents of the city and municipal federation were, in turn, members of the provincial or metropolitan federations, which elected their own president as well. The presidents of highly urbanized and independent component cities (Metropolitan Federation) and the provincial federations composed the membership in the national federation. They elected the national federation president who automatically sat on the National Youth Commission.

Since 1992, there have been three simultaneous nationwide SK elections held in the Philippines which each term lasting from three to five years due to amendment of the regular 3-year term of the council.

Members of the SK received payment for serving on the council.[2] Under the Local Government Code, only the SK Chairman received money but in some areas the practice was that the chairman shared his payment with other members of the SK council.[2] In one barangay, each SK member received 500 pesos per month from the chairman.[2]

History

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See also: Katipunan ng Kabataan

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. The SK developed out of the Kabataang Barangay, established during martial law by President Ferdinand Marcos.[2] Marcos established the KB in 1975 to give youth a chance to be involved in community affairs and to provide the government means to inform youth of the government's development efforts.[citation needed] His daughter Imee Marcos was chairman.[2]

Controversy surrounded the KB, including the enforcement of authoritarian rule among youth, opposition of militant youth activity, and the KB's failure to develop youth as a responsive collective. Since then, the KB grew less popular among youth and instead student activism became the trend in youth participation in the country. In June 1986, a study[by whom?] was conducted on the KB and came up with the following recommendations: abolish the KB; create a National Youth Commission (NYC); establish a National Youth Assembly; and set up genuine youth representation in government. Youth consultations were held[by whom?], and the KB was abolished by the government. However, then-president Corazon Aquino have already established the Presidential Council for Youth Affairs (PCYA) instead of NYC, which was successful in coordinating with the youth federations to develop future national leaders, but lacked the powers envisioned[by whom?] for the NYC because PCYA merely coordinated with youth groups. A proposal was then crafted by the Congress youth representatives and PCYA's technical committee in 1989 to 1990.

The proposal that created the Katipunan ng Kabataan (KK) and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) was incorporated into the 1991 Local Government Code (known as Local Autonomy Law or Republic Act 7160). It formally abolished the KB and created the KK and SK. The KK includes all Filipino citizens, age 15 to 18 years, residing in each barangay for at least six months and are registered in the official barangay list. The SK is the governing body of the KK, a set of youth leaders elected by the KK members to represent them and deliver youth-focused services in the barangay.

The age range of the youth eligible for the KK and SK was reduced to 15 to below 18 due to the change in Republic Act 9164 in 2002.

Effective abolition and reform of SK

SKs developed a poor reputation. One youth advocate said he was dissuaded from running for an SK because "Aside from the lack of concrete legislative and youth development programs, I have heard of certain issues raised against the SK like corruption, nepotism, and recurring programs focusing on sports festivals and pageantry only."[3] A 2007 study by UNICEF and the Department of Interior and Local Government said, “The SK’s performance for the past ten years has been generally weak. This is especially true in terms of coming up with legislations, promoting the development of young people, submitting reports and holding consultations with their constituents.”[3][4]

Because of concerns that the SK is a "breeding ground for political dynasty and exposing the youth to corruption and the practice of traditional politicians" known colloquially as trapos,[5][6] Republic Act No. 10632 was enacted in 2013 to (a) postpone the scheduled October 2013 SK elections until some time between October 28, 2014 and February 23, 2015 and (b) leave vacant all the SK positions until new officers are elected.[7][8] The bill explicitly prohibits the appointing of officials to fill the vacant positions.[7][8] Sen. Francis Escudero said the no-holder of officials would technically abolish the SK.[7] The 10% funds from the Internal Revenue Allotment designated for SK activities will be used by the barangays for youth development programs.[7]

While not officially abolished, the SK remains at least "on hold" until further legislation is passed.[1] All SK officials were required to "step down".[1] In the meantime, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) have issued regulations on how the barangays are to use the 10% of Internal Revenue Allotment set aside for SK activities and mandating the creation in each barangay a "Task Force on Youth Development".[1] In the place of SKs, ad hoc youth committees have been formed.[9]

In January 2015, as the February 23, 2015, deadline approached for the date of the postponed elections, the Philippine House of Representatives unanimously passed a reform bill.[10] Among the reforms are the raising of the age of SK officials from between 15 and 17 years old to between 18 and 21; the raising of the age of voters from between 15 and 17 to between 15 and 21; an anti-dynasty provision that forbids candidates from having a relative in public office that is within the second degree of affinity; and provisions to increase SKs' fiscal autonomy.[10]

Immediately after passing the reform bill, the Philippine House passed a bill further postponing the SK elections from February 2015 to October 2016 to be held at the same time as the barangay elections of 2016.[10] In March 2015, a law postponing the elections to 2016 was signed by President Aquino.[11]

SK Elections

Except in 1992 and 1996 elections, Sangguniang Kabataan elections have been synchronized with the Barangay election starting in 2002, and in 2007. The term limit for Sangguniang Kabataan officials is usually three years but since the first election, there have been extension of terms ranging from one to two years more in office.

The sixth election scheduled for October 28, 2013 was postponed for at least a year, if the SK is not abolished by that time.[7]

SK Federations

The Municipal and City SK Federations are composed of the barangays belonging to a particular municipality or city, respectively. It is a representative federation since only the Barangay SK Chairman sits as member of the federation not the all the officers of the Sangguniang Kabataan in the barangay. The Provincial SK Federation is a federation of all municipal and component city federations. The representation is thru the presidents of the municipal and component city federations. The Sangguniang Kabataan National Federation (SKNF) is a federation of highly urbanized cities, independent component cities and provincial federations of Sangguniang Kabataan. It is the central federation and the highest administrative body of the Sangguniang Kabataan. The national federation creates an executive board which is the policymaking body and its president administers the national federation.

Controversies

In April 2010, Jane Cajes, SK National Federation President, was charged before the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas in Cebu City for lack of transparency in her financial dealings and for flaunting her wealth. However, Cajes said it is a black propaganda orchestrated by their political enemies.[12]

During the SK National Congress 2010 held on July 28–30, 2010 in Panglao, Bohol, the participants urged Cajes to present the financial statements.[13] The local newspapers in Bohol reported that the SK members claimed they already demanded for the financial report which Cajes failed to present. These alleged unaccounted-for funds include PhP10 million provided in 2008 by the presidential fund, PhP10 million given in 2009 by DENR, financial statement (FS) of 2008 regarding congress in Cebu, FS of 2009 congress held in Subic Bay, and FS of National Convention and launching of Sama-sama Para sa Kalikasan held in Bohol.[14]

The participants also insisted that Cajes should likewise render her report on the donations coming from the Philippines Charity Sweepstakes Office, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, Department of National Defense and other private donors such as The Bar.[15]

References

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External links

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ “The Impact of Youth Participation in the Local Government Process: The Sangguniang Kabataan Experience" quoted in Charles Ladia's Rappler article. See citation above.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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