Tuesday, April 15, 2008 Editorials: SK abolition and alternatives
SEN. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. has started the process that could lead to the abolition of what some sectors believe is a failed experiment: the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK).
When the SK was conceived to replace the Marcos-era Kabataang Barangay, hopes were high that it would become a good training ground for future political leaders.
Years later, some sectors’ worst fears has become real, with SK elections and many SK leaders falling prey to the same ills that plague the country’s politics.
Rationale
Among the reasons Pimentel cited for filing the bill on the scrapping of the SK:
l The organization exposes youth leaders to situations that make them susceptible to dishonest or corrupt practices, especially in handling funds entrusted to them.
l SK chairpersons and officials are, more often than not, missing in their villages because they have to stay elsewhere to pursue college education.
Not mentioned but in the list: political clans using the SK to perpetuate political dynasties, politicians involving SK leaders in partisan politics, cheating in SK polls, etc.
To be fair, the SK may have delivered in some areas and developed some good leaders but to many the negative perception seems to have outweighed the positive one.
So maybe the days of the SK are numbered.
Replacement
But will the proposal under Senate Bill 2155 to have youth representatives in city, municipal and provincial councils elected at large be a better alternative to the SK?
The point is to shield the youth from the bad influences of the politics that has become the bane of the country’s governance, especially in the past few decades.
If the SK were to be replaced, therefore, it should be by a setup that would ensure that the breed of leaders it will produce will effect change in our politics and governance.
Will involving the youth directly in traditional politics be a better setup than doing it indirectly, like setting up a youth organization and then corrupting its leaders?
The abolition of the SK will only become meaningful if proposals for its replacement will be subjected to deeper scrutiny so the youth won’t be shortchanged.
