Breeds corruption? Some lawmakers want the Sangguniang Kabataan abolished because it reportedly became a mere training ground for future corrupt officials and traditional politics, but some say the council still somehow gives voice to the youth and must only be reformed. Courtesy of SK Facebook page

The Sangguniang Kabataan (SK, Youth Council) was created almost 20 years ago to replace the defunct Kabataang Barangay during the Marcos era.  The Local Government Code of 1991 or Republic Act 7160 gave way to the formation of Katipunan ng Kabataan (KK) chapter – the general assembly of youth in each barangay nationwide.  The law states that any youth aged between 15 and 17 can vote or be voted on to govern the SK. The SK is the legislative body of youths, and its chair sits as a regular member in the Barangay Council as representative of local youth.

Under its constitution and by-laws, the main function of the SK is to “promulgate resolutions necessary to carry out the objectives of the youth in the barangay, initiate programs designed to enhance the social, political, economic, cultural, spiritual a physical development of the members, conduct fund-raising activities, consult and coordinate with all youth organizations in the barangay for policy formulation and program implementation, and coordinate with the appropriate agency for the implementation of youth development projects and programs at the national level.”

One of the current debates about the SK is about the alleged corruption within its ranks and from local up to the Sangguniang Kabataan National Federation (SKNF) level.

SK funds mainly come from the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) of every barangay.  Ten per cent of the total annual IRA of the barangay automatically goes to the SK funds.  Aside from this designated allocation, the local SK can also venture into fund- raising projects or solicit donations.

The SK fund is divided into 13 projects, namely the Green Brigade with a 10 percent share; livelihood, 10 percent; capability building, 10 percent; anti-drug abuse campaign, 10 percent --and 58 percent goes to the likes of educational services and “moral recovery programs”, health services, disaster coordination and calamity management, sports, community immersion, infrastructure, legislative work - and other programs aimed for youth development. The remaining two percent goes to annual dues and is given to the SK federation at the municipal, provincial and national levels.

Training ground for corruption?

At all levels,  the SK is obliged to submit an annual audited financial report and accomplishment report annually to its respective governing bodies –such as the barangay council, municipal council, the National Youth Commission (NYC) and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).

The SK should also formulate policies and programs for youth development as part of its mandate – yet therein lies the problem.

In 2007, the University of the Philippines' Center for Integrative and Development Studies (UP-CIDS) produced a report entitled “The Impact of Youth Participation in the Local Government Process: The Sangguniang Kabataang Experience.”

Among the key findings of the study was that “the SK’s performance for the past ten years has been generally weak. This is especially true in terms of coming up with legislations, promoting the development of young people, submitting reports and holding consultations with their constituents.”

These findings were supported by a 2010 thesis of two UP Mass Communication students entitled “SKEMA of Youth Leaders: An Investigative Study on the Regulation of the Sangguniang Kabataan.”

Using direct interviews, document analysis and focus group discussions, the two authors, Sophia Balod and Cielo Marjorie Goño, found the appropriate government agencies to be weak in supervising and regulating the SK and its funds. The authors “discovered that there is no proper delineation of tasks among the SK's supervising agency: The NYC, which is supposed to monitor the SKNF, wants to tighten its hold over the SK. The DILG, tasked to oversee the local SK, is not aware of its function and the SKNF insists on its autonomy both on the national and local level,” stated the abstract report.

The thesis alleged bribery, overpricing and standard operating procedures (SOP) ranging from 10 to 12 percent was prevalent in SK.  And the practice is not without the knowledge of adult politicians.  Most often, adult leaders introduce the youth to such practices, according to SK leaders who were interviewed in the study.

And as seeming proof of the two studies’ findings, former SK National President Jane Cajes faced two different graft charges before the Office of the Ombudsman last year from her own constituents.

Cajes is the daughter of former Rep. Roberto Cajes of the 2^nd district of Bohol Trinidad municipal mayor Judith del Rosario Lao Cajes.

In April 2010, the Junior Graft Watch Cebu Unit based in Cebu said that Cajes allegedly failed to account to the SK national executive board the PhP 10 million (USD 238,095) she received in 2008 from then president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and overpriced registration fees in the SK national congress in Cebu in 2008 and Subic in 2009.

In October 2010, Cajes’ former close aide Manuel Ferdinand De Erio and SKNF volunteer Leo Udtohan charged her with alleged misuse of SK funds amounting to PhP 90 million (USD 2.14 million), which included allegedly entering into “multimillion peso procurement of goods and services without bidding” for shirts, bags and services for the SK National Congress from 2008 to 2010 and failure to present financial statements for the PhP 10 million received from Arroyo for the SK’s environmental project.

It is not clear whether the Ombudsman has decided on these cases, but Cajes term in SKNF has already ended in February 2011 after serving three years.

Aside from the issue of corruption, the SK appears not to have lived up to its true mandate which is crafting policy and programs for the development of its youthful constituents. The majority of projects implemented by the SK are sports and culture development, environment and infrastructure.

Both cited studies recommend stricter monitoring and regulation of SK funds and projects, with the help of adult leaders and the formation of mechanics for transparency and accountability.

To abolish or reform?

Two contending groups are engaged in the debate over the future of the group -- one is for the abolition of the SK and the other for reforms.  A few years back, the main creator of the Local Government Code which created the SK, former Senator Aquilino Pimentel, ironically called for the abolition of the SK, and filed a bill amending RA 7160 before his term ended.

Media reports quoted Pimentel as saying: “SK has lost its usefulness as a mechanism for getting the youth involved in community development.”  He pointed out that the SK failed in its mandate and allegedly became a training ground for future corrupt officials, nepotism and traditional politics.

Recently, two more representatives (Deputy Speaker Pablo Garcia and Valenzuela City Rep. Magtanggol Gunigundo) filed two separate bills calling for its abolition. They claimed the SK “is being used by unscrupulous politicians to exploit the youth.”

In an interview with the Philippine Public Transparency Reporting Project (PPTRP), Rep. Raymond Palatino of Kabataan Party List, a proponent of SK Reform Bill, argued that the allegations of corruption in the SK “are not without basis” but stressed that corruption practices are already embedded not only within the SK, but within the governing system itself.

“It is unfair to solely blame the SK,” he said.

Palatino also pointed out that aside from limiting the ideas of a few SK on the role of the youth in changing the society, there is a danger that they may be co-opted by traditional politics. “Instead of propagating new political perspectives, they might be victimized by rotten politics,” he said.

Palatino also said that apart from the Kabataan Party List, no other organization represents the youth except for the SK. “Where will the youth go?” asked Palatino regarding the move to abolish the SK.

“If the Aquino government is truly sincere in its battle cry of curbing corruption at all levels, it can tap the youth’s idealism and vigilance like what happened during EDSA 2.  The text power, among others proved that youths are not corrupt as what the abolitionists would want to paint,” Palatino said.   He added that the SK upon reforming its orientation can become the eyes and ears of any national institution.

This is also what the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in its study wanted to reiterate to the public.  SK for the past years is not fully maximized.  The UNICEF also recognized the institutionalization of youth participation in governance through the SK.

“Even before it became a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN CRC), the Philippines had already enacted a law to ensure that the voices of children and young people were heard on issues that directly concerned them. So far, it is the only country in the world to have a grassroots-based, government-funded political structure for young people that is recognized nationwide,” said the UP-CIDS report. Philippine Public Transparency Reporting Project

(The author is the photojournalist of Pinoy Weekly Online. He is also an activist and an advocate for children’s rights.)