Sangguniang Kabataan

Sangguniang Kabataan (abbreviated as SK; lit. 'youth council'), is a council meant to represent the youth in each barangay in the Philippines. It was put "on hold", but not quite abolished, prior to the 2013 barangay elections.[1] In January 2016, the Sangguniang Kabataan Reform Act was signed into law which made some significant changes to the SK and initially scheduled new elections for October 2016.[2] In March 2017, the elections were postponed anew to May 2018.[3]

Sangguniang Kabataan
Type
Type
History
Founded1975
Preceded byKabataang Barangay
Seats41,995 SK Chairmen
293,365 Councilors
Elections
Direct election
Last election
May 2018
Next election
May 2022
Basketball hoop with SK logo in Barangay Tungay, Santa Barbara, Iloilo

The SK Chairman leads the Sangguniang Kabataan. A Local Youth Development Council (LYDC) composed of representatives of different local youth groups supports the SK and its programs.[4]

The Sangguniang Kabataan is the successor of the KB or the Kabataang Barangay (lit. 'Village Youth') which was abolished by the Local Government Code of 1991. The author, Senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr. abolished KB because of allegations that this organization faced.

Function and structure

The Kagawads, or councilors, approve resolutions and appropriate money allotted to the council. The Chairman automatically sits on the barangay council as an ex officio member and is automatically chairman of the Committee on Youth and Sports, one of the standing committees of the barangay council.

The council represents youth who have resided in their barangay for at least one year and registered to vote. It leads the local youth programs.

Members of the SK receive payment for serving on the council.[5] Under the Local Government Code, only the SK Chairman receives money but in some areas the practice was that the chairman shares his payment with other members of the SK council.[5] In one barangay, each SK member received 500 pesos per month from the chairman.[5]

Local Youth Development Council

Under the 2016 reform, a new Local Youth Development Council was formed to support the SK programs and to be composed of representatives from different youth organizations in the community including student councils, church and youth faith groups, youth-serving organizations, and community-based youth groups.[4] "The LYDC aims to harmonize, broaden and strengthen all programs and initiatives of the local government and non-governmental organizations for the youth sector," said Senator Bam Aquino, then chairman of the Senate Committee on Youth and co-author of the reform act.[4]

SK Federations

Every Sangguniang Kabataan is part of a municipal or city SK association, which are in turn members of a provincial SK association. A barangay's SK Chairman represents the barangay in the municipal or city association. The presidents of the city and municipal federation are, in turn, members of the provincial or metropolitan associations, all of which have their own elected president as well. The presidents of independent cities' and provinces' associations compose the membership in the national association and elect the national president who automatically sits on the National Youth Commission.

History

Predecessors
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The SK developed out of the Kabataang Barangay, established during martial law by President Ferdinand Marcos.[5] 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. His daughter Imee Marcos was chairman.[5]

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 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, 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 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 Act or Republic Act 7160). It formally abolished the KB and created the KK and SK. The KK includes all Filipino citizens, age 10 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.

Sangguniang Kabataan reform
Infographic from the National Youth Council of the changes made by the Sangguniang Kabataan Reform Act.

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."[6] 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.”[6][7]

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,[8][9] 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.[10][11] The bill explicitly prohibits the appointing of officials to fill the vacant positions.[10][11] Sen. Francis Escudero said the vacancies would technically abolish the SK.[10] During this time, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) 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 were formed.[12]

In January 2015, as the February 23 deadline approached for the date of the postponed elections, the Philippine House of Representatives unanimously passed a reform bill.[13] 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.[13] 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.[13] In March 2015, a law postponing the elections to 2016 was signed by President Aquino.[14] However, the elections were eventually held in May 2018.[3]

On January 15, 2016, the Sangguniang Kabataan Reform Act (Republic Act No. 10742) was signed into law which made some significant changes to the SK.[2] It changed the age of the council from 15 to 17 years old to 18 to 24 years old and it forbids individuals from seeking a youth council appointment who are closer than the second degree of consanguinity (have the same grandparents) from any elected or appointed official in the same area.[2] It is the first Philippine law with an anti-political dynasty restriction for elected positions, as permitted by the 1987 Philippine Constitution.[4] The reform also created a Local Youth Development Council to support the SK programs composed of representatives from different youth organizations in the community including student councils, church and youth faith groups, youth-serving organizations, and community-based youth groups.[4]

SK Elections

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.

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.

See also

References
  1. Catajan, Maria Elena (March 24, 2014). "NYC: Use SK funds right". SunStar Baguio. Retrieved March 26, 2014.
  2. GOLEZ, PRINCE (January 20, 2016). "Aquino signs SK reform bill". Panay News. Retrieved January 23, 2016.
  3. "Duterte resets barangay, SK elections to 2018". GMA News. October 4, 2017.
  4. Musico, Jelly F.; Reyes, Ernie (January 20, 2016). "Newly signed SK Reform Law bars gov't officials' relatives from running". MSN.com. Philippines News Agency and InterAksyon.com. Retrieved January 23, 2016.
  5. Lopez, Melissa Luz (October 30, 2013). "Sudden timeout for SK leaders". VERA Files. Retrieved March 26, 2014.
  6. Ladia, Charles (September 27, 2014). "Why the Sangguniang Kabataan needs an overhaul". Rappler. Retrieved January 30, 2015.
  7. “The Impact of Youth Participation in the Local Government Process: The Sangguniang Kabataan Experience" quoted in Charles Ladia's Rappler article. See citation above.
  8. "SANGGUNIANG KABATAAN". pasay.gov.ph City of Pasay.
  9. "Senate ratifies measure postponing SK elections". The Freeman. The Philippine Star. September 25, 2013.
  10. Mendez, Christina (September 25, 2013). "SK polls postponed; Congress says no holdovers". Philippine Star. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
  11. "Republic Act No. 10632". Official Gazette. Republic of the Philippines. October 3, 2013.
  12. Monzon, Alden M. (January 23, 2015). "Senate approves bill to postpone anew Sangguniang Kabataan polls". BusinessWorld. Retrieved January 30, 2015.
  13. Cayabyab, Marc Jayson (January 28, 2015). "House panel OKs SK reform bill". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved January 30, 2015.
  14. Robillos, Alyosha J. (March 26, 2015). "Sangguniang Kabataan polls moved to 2016". CNN Philippines. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
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