Saturday, November 03, 2007 Editorials: SK’s battered image
THE image of the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) is undoubtedly the one that suffered a severe beating in the recently concluded barangay elections.
Reports of some young candidates engaging in trapo tactics, from simple vote buying to herding members in one place then giving them money, had concerned sectors fuming mad.
That scene was not only played out in Cebu City and province but in many other provinces of the country, which could attest to the pervasiveness of the practice.
The main complaint was that the SK has become an academy of obnoxious politics instead of becoming a good training ground for this country's future leaders.
Idealism, interference
To be fair, however, only a small percentage of the SK candidates violated election rules and indulged in questionable tactics just to be able to with in the election.
It is still safe to assume that idealism has not left wannabe SK leaders entirely.
Besides, acts like vote buying and excessive campaign spending would not have been consummated without the participation of their elders, like parents and politicians.
One can say then that had these kids been left to campaign on their own, either they would have done so honestly or the scheming would have been reduced to the minimum.
Consensus
But there seems to be no way the SK polls won't continue to fall prey to political predators, which begs the question of whether the organization can still serve its purpose.
This point is important because there seems to be a consensus in both the Senate and the House of Representatives that it is time to abolish the SK altogether.
And with what happened in the recent political exercise, it looks like either public opinion would favor the move or people would no longer care.
Another mechanism
The plan, of course, should be subjected to a thorough discussion because one must concede that some positive things have also been done by SK leaders through time.
Besides, the idea of providing a training ground for future leaders is always compelling.
Any decision to abolish the SK must therefore consider setting up another mechanism that can harness the idealism of youth in improving governance.
