Rachel Gabiola / Northwest Samar State University Devcomm Intern
THE P1 million that the Cebu City Government will provide to all the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) councils in the city will be for sports development and youth programs, according to a local legislator.
City Councilor Noel Wenceslao issued the clarification after several SK members took to social media to correct an announcement from the Cebu City Public Information Office (PIO) that the aid was exclusively for their summer league.
Wenceslao, in a text message to SunStar Cebu on Monday, July 15, 2024, said: “As I understand it, this financial assistance from the City Government is intended for all 80 barangays’ SK councils, each receiving P1 million. It can be used for sports development programs or youth development programs.”
The PIO was quoting Acting Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia in a Facebook post on Sunday, July 14.
Garcia told a gathering of youth leaders on Thursday, July 13, that each SK council would soon receive P1 million from the City Government for the summer league.
“Sunod semana madawat sa kada usa sa 80 ka mga Sangguniang Kabataan ang tag P1 ka milyon nga ayuda gikan sa Kagamhanan sa Dakbayan sa Sugbo aron tagsatagsa kanila makapahigayon og summer league alang sa mga kabatan-onan,” reads a portion of the PIO post.
(Next week, each of the 80 SK councils will receive P1 million in aid from the Cebu City Government to organize a summer league for the youth.)
Garcia made the announcement during a media and information literacy seminar at the barangay hall of Duljo Fatima.
“Daghan kaayo niduol nako ug nangayo og tabang sa ilang mga liga, nga ila kunong i-charge sa City-sponsored account sa Cebu City Government. I said ayaw namo’g hunahunaa pa kay ako nang i-release ang inyohang P1 million,” Garcia told the SK officials.
(Many have approached me and asked for help with their (summer) leagues, saying they will charge the activity to the City-sponsored account of the City Government. I told them not to worry because I will already release their P1 million.)
Garcia said the assistance, sourced from the General Fund, will be released immediately after the conclusion of the ongoing Palarong Pambansa 2024 on Wednesday, July 17.
The summer league is a series of sports competitions, usually basketball, that are held during summer involving teams from different barangays.
Its aim is to provide youth with opportunities for athletic development, community engagement and to stay active during the school break.
An SK councilor from Barangay Cambinocot, who asked not to be named, clarified that the financial assistance is “not intended for summer leagues only,” citing various mandatory projects needing funding such as the Sugbo Cup, summer camps, festivals of dance, benchmarking and other subsidies supporting barangay projects.
“For example, in our barangay, our budget is limited because our IRA (Internal Revenue Allotment) is small. Other funds are used for purchasing office supplies or setting up learning hubs,” the SK councilor told SunStar Cebu on Monday.
Another netizen also commented, “As one of the SK councilors nga present ani nga time, the P1 million financial subsidy from the Cebu City Government is not intended for summer leagues only. There are mandatory projects that need funding like the upcoming Sugbo Cup and summer camp.”
The SK councils in the country have been recipients of criticisms from several groups, including Sen. Imee Marcos, who called on the councils to focus on education and other issues, and not just on sports and beauty pageants.
“Hopefully the SK can focus on really troubling issues of those their age, for example, tigilan muna na yong mga liga ng mga barangay (let’s take a pause from holding liga ng mga barangay). Not necessarily tigilan talaga (to stop completely), but that shouldn’t be their main project,” Marcos told SunStar Cebu in an interview in March 2024.