Angara wants SK abolished

A day after the synchronized barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections, a lawmaker proposed for the abolition of the SK – or youth council – system for supposedly “outliving its usefulness." Aside from this, Sen. Edgardo Angara said the SK system has also put the youth “in the middle of a dirty political arena." “The SK election is an experiment conducted by the government in the 80's to gauge the participation of the youth in the governance of the country. However, after almost 30 years, I believe that the SK has already outlived its usefulness," Angara said in a statement on Tuesday. “We have to consider the fact that we're exposing the youth to politics – Philippine style, which we all know is a no-holds-barred avenue. I am concerned because we are accelerating the entrance of such malleable, impressionable minds into Philippine politics and all its less-than honorable practices," he added. Angara suggested that instead of having an independent institution like the SK, the government should create an elected position within the barangay, municipal, or provincial council for youth representatives. “This will be more practical and economical, since there will be no need to hold separate elections specifically for them, and because of the integration, these representatives will have better access to the resources for their projects," Angara said. Senate committee on public order and illegal drugs head Senator Gregorio Honasan said that both the SK and barangay systems are working but agreed that they need "a lot of improvement." “That's one interesting aspect we should look at... how has it has evolved. Evaluate nating mabuti (it properly)," he said in an interview with GMANews.TV on Tuesday. SK National Federation president Jane Censoria Cajes, for her part, had earlier appealed to the Senate to call for the SK's reform and not its abolition. During the Senate hearings on the proposed postponement of the barangay and SK polls, Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., head of the local government committee, and Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri opposed the scrapping of the SK system. “It is not my view that the youth representation should be abolished," said Marcos whose father, the late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr., established the first youth council in 1975 during his term as head of the state. The younger Marcos said that what must be done is to restructure the SK system. “They (youth) all want to work... they all want to help," he said. President Benigno Aquino III had earlier said he wants the SK — composed of one chairman and seven councilors — to be restructured to have just one representative. Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said that Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo has drafted a bill calling for such setup. - KBK, GMANews.TV