Saturday, October 27, 2007 Cebuano seeks Palace inquiry on selection of youth leader
CEBUANO Commissioner-at-large Michael Francis Lopez appealed to the Office of the President to investigate the allegations against the National Youth Commission (NYC) on the “questionable” selection process for an exchange program.
At least two complaints were filed against the agency at the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission, one by lawyer Reuben Peneyra and the other by the SSEAYP International Philippines (SIP), an organization of former participants of the Ship for South East Asian Youth Program (SSEAYP).
The SSEAYP is a youth exchange program sponsored by the Japanese Government and implemented by the Office of the President, through the NYC.
Both complaints questioned the unanimous selection of NYC Commissioner for Luzon Raul Dominic Badilla as this year’s national leader of the Philippine delegation.
Commissioner
The NYC board en banc made the selection.
But the SIP, in a letter to President Arroyo, said they were excluded when the selection process guidelines were finalized. It questioned why a commissioner was even allowed to apply for the national leader’s position and warned against “a discriminatory and iniquitous selection process for participating youths.”
According to the memorandum of agreement between NYC and SIP, the latter is included in every screening and interview panel, except when NYC finalizes the participants and the national leader’s selection.
Unanimous
Lopez told Sun.Star Cebu the final deliberation was done through secret balloting because “members of the board realized there was a commissioner among the applicants and they didn’t want their unanimous decision to be influenced.”
“It was stupid and there was no proof, like a written record or minutes or transcript that the deliberation happened. But the question is why they opened the search to applicants when the people already know Badilla was going to be the national leader. It was like a done deal already,” said Lopez.
He opposes the selection of an NYC official as the delegation’s national leader. He also did not sign the new guidelines for the selection process after he heard that SIP was not fully consulted.
The complaints cited several provisions of the Administrative Code of 1987, Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees and the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, which Badilla and the rest of the NYC board allegedly violated.
Confidence
Badilla was appointed as national leader last Oct. 21. Lopez submitted his appeal to the President last Thursday.
“If heads have to roll to restore the trust and confidence of the public in the NYC, especially the youth, then so be it. Unfortunately, it has come to a sad and sorry state where the NYC needs to go through fire to be purified,” he said.
Lopez said a “deep and exhaustive inquiry” is the only way to save whatever’s left of the NYC’s integrity and credibility.
The respondents in the complaint against the NYC are Chairman Richard Alvin Nalupta, Commissioners-at-large Priscilla Marie Abante and Lopez, board members Mohammad Hanny Camid, Benjie Oliva and Badilla, and Sangguniang Kabataan National Federation President Milton Isagani Mendador.
Administration
Lopez said he opposed the selection of an NYC official as the SSEAYP national leader for 2007 and beyond, “as a matter of delicadeza.”
In his counter-affidavit, Lopez said he was on official travel last June 7, when the NYC deliberated on the selection and picked Badilla.
“I am a firm believer of the sincerity of the Arroyo administration’s efforts to promote good governance in the bureaucracy and to decisively weed out corrupt and abusive officials from the ranks,” he said in a statement. (NRC/TEP)
