The proposed abolition of the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) by the national government has provoked a debate making the issue the talk of the town One of the advocates of SK's abolition from the political landscape is City Mayor Dan Neri-Lim. “I am 100% in favor of the move to abolish the SK,” he said. His reaction came after the pronouncement of the DILG of abolishing the youth sector because the SK has not addressed the youth concerns. “Most of the time, the SK president is either the children, relatives or political supporters of the mayors and governors,” the mayor said. In Bohol , a lot of SK federated presidents are children of the municipal mayors and other political figures of the locality. Commissioner Benjie Oliva of the National Youth Commission batted for SK reform. “The National Youth Commission unanimously approved En Banc Resolution No. 65 series of 2010 entitled, “Resolution Urging the Congress of the Philippines for the passage of the Sangguniang Kabataan Reform Bill before holding any SK elections in the country”, he has introduced and sponsored. Oliva, is the chairman of the Committee on Values and Integrity Development of NYC.

The Sangguniang Kabataan was created by virtue of Republic Act (RA) No. 7160 or the Local Government Code of 1991 whose objectives are to tap the energy, enthusiasm, and idealism of young people ages 15-17 years old for grassroots development and to provide a venue for youth participation in local governance, said Oliva in his press statement sent to the Freeman. Oliva cited as reason for the needed SK reform the findings of the University of the Philippines-Center for Integrative and Development Studies (UP-CIDS). Among the analyses of the study included the following: “SK falls short in carrying out their legislative functions; SK projects mostly revolve around sports and culture, environment, and infrastructure and fail to address the real and pressing problems of children and young people that pertain to education, livelihood, and drug abuse; SK fails to submit annual and end-of-term reports which lead to non-monitoring of their projects and programs, hence, the effectiveness of their projects are seldom gauged; youth consultation and coordination with community members are often done; and a little youth involvement in program planning and implementation.”

For her part, SK National federated president Jane Censoria del Rosario Cajes, daughter of former Rep. Roberto Cajes, who is now Trinidad mayor, also favored for the proposed SK reform instead of abolishing it altogether. Cajes, who was guest of the “Rundown” program over ANC channel hosted by veteran news anchor Ces Orena-Drilon Monday night, admitted that corruption among the SKs occurred at some point. She blamed politicians for using the youth for politicking. Cajes was under fire during the SK national congress held in Bohol for failure to account the SK funds and present the SK's financial statements as she promised earlier. The alleged unaccounted money included (a) PhP10 million provided in 2008 by presidential fund; (b) PhP10 million given in 2009 by DENR; (c) financial statement (FS) of 2008 regarding congress in Cebu; (d) FS of 2009 congress held in Subic Bay; and (e) FS of National Convention and launching of Sama-sama Para sa Kalikasan held in Bohol. The angry participants also insisted that Cajes should also make transparent the money coming from dole outs of the Philippines Charity Sweepstakes Office, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, Department of National Defense and other private donors such as The Bar.    (RVO)