PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino 3rd has called for the abolition of the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK). The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has drafted a bill containing, among other reform provisions, one that would abolish the SK. The Election Commissioners, according to Commissioner Rene Sarmiento and Comelec spokesman James Jimenez, favor the abolition of the youth council.
For many years now since not very long after its inception 17 years ago, the SK has been criticized by many right thinking Filipinos. They observed how elections in every barangay to choose the youth councilors have been tainted in most places by all the evils seen in adult politics.
Reports of cheating, bribery, illegal campaigning, massive spending, and of many youth candidates being “owned†(“hawakâ€) by “trapo†(corrupt traditional politicians) are pervasive. Neighborhoods know how true it is that, far from being a training ground for principled politics and good governance, the politics for control of the SK council only serves to give young people an early turn at dirty, corrupt adult “trapo†politics.
Another disgusting display of “trapo†politicking is seen at the town, city, provincial and nationwide elections for the federation of SKs. Perhaps, there have been instances when good-governance types get elected. Nevertheless, the politicking, the use of a lot of money, the dirty tricks are as reprehensible in the SKs as those in political contests in the world of hardboiled “trapo†adults.
Youth who get elected SK councilors benefit. They get honoraria for attending SK sessions. The SK councilor or chairman who gets elected president of the town, city, or provincial SK federation gets to sit as a member of the town, city or provincial council. He or she gets a salary or at least an honorarium.
The “trapo†politicians back up, finance and campaign for, youth candidates. For they become the “trapo†youth cadres and future adult leaders.
People working to establish moral politics and good governance in our country wish to innoculate young people against the virus of “trapo†politics. Hence, they want to abolish the Sangguniang Kabataan.
President Aquino’s wish to see SK abolished is a logical application of his theme “Kung walang kurap, walang mahirap.â€
DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo, years before President Aquino became the “moral change†candidate for president, was already a moral force in Bicol as mayor of Naga City and a champion in Dr. Jesus Estanislao’s Public Governance Scorecard system and a champion also of the Kaya Natin! moral politics movement. His move for the abolition of the SK is also a logical step for him as secretary of the Cabinet department in charge of local government units.
Comelec Commissioner Sarmiento’s main reason for seeking the abolition of the SK is his fear that the SK gives children the taste of corruption early. He equated being a young “trapo†with learning about getting commissions from construction projects.
It bothers him that politician parents of the “trapo†variety use the SK to give their children an early start in the kind of politics they, the trapo parents, are masters of.
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