THE Cagayan de Oro City Council on Monday, May 6, reminded barangay officials to give the Sangguniang Kabataan their 10 percent budget and allow them to use it for their preferred projects.
This after SK Federation President John Michael Seno, in his special report, said he received complaints from fellow SK leaders on how their barangay officials diverted their funds to other projects not related to youth programs.
"For the past years, ila ng naandan nga sila ang magdumala sa budget sa SK from year 2013 to 2018 (they were used to manage the SK budget from 2013 to 2018), sa wala pay SK officials (when there were still no SK officials)," Seno said.
"It's okay if the barangay uses our funds but under the joint memo circular, it is purely stated that the budget is only for the youth but in some cases it is used to buy anything that the youth cannot utilize. I would like to tell our barangay chairmen that they should also allow the new leaders of today be empowered," he added.
Councilor Teodulfo Lao said the complaint should be addressed to the Liga Ng Mga Barangays or Association of Barangay Captains (ABC) while Councilor Ian Mark Nacaya, a former SK president, said there is a law that empowers SK officials on the use of the budget allocated to them under the Local Government Code.
Councilor Edna Dahino, a former barangay official, agreed saying that the local Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) office should assist SK leaders in being proactive in securing their budget from the barangays.
Vice Mayor Raineir Joaquin “Kikang” Uy said this is a wake-up call for barangay officials to allocate the budget where it is supposed to go.
Uy said the DILG office should look into this and referred the matter to the ABC chaired by Councilor Alam Lim. (PJ Orias)