The Sangguniang Kabataan or youth council is an organization responsible for governing youth politics in the Philippines. The youth population of the Philippines is included in this jurisdiction where the SK leaders will be tasked to propose, implement, and ratify laws that they believe that it can bring a significance to the society. However, the efficiency of youth council in the Philippines are marked with numerous controversies, citing that there were numerous issues of unsolved corruption allegations of some youth leaders.
House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, who is currently elected as the Representative of the First District of Davao Del Norte is now urging both the congress and the senate to file for a new resolution to abolish the youth and barangay council members. The main reason is to further intensify campaigns against graft and corruption and proper public administration management. There are numerous complaints regarding the accuracy and effectivity of both Barangay and Youth councilors by citizens, groups, or organization due to the failure of tasks. This is a problem that has been already neglected for several years.
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| House Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines Honorable Pantaleon Alvares of the First District of Davao Del Norte, Philippines. |
Barangay council is a governing body that operates within the barangay, which is regarded as the smallest administrative body of the Philippine government. A barangay is referred to as a district, which is one of the districts of a certain town or a city. This term can be also referred to as a village in a certain remote area of a town or a city. A barangay is composed of one captain and at least half a dozen of council members responsible for governing a certain chunk of the city of town of their jurisdiction.
Youth council is a governing body that is focused on the youth population in the Philippines. This council is governed by elected youth officials aiming to coordinate and contribute with other government officials to empower the youth. In the Philippines, the youth council is locally known as the "Sangguniang Kabataan". Youth leaders are elected by winning the majority of the total number of votes. But sadly, both of Youth and Barangay council will soon be abolished as the government attempts to revitalize its governance to improve the political structure of the country.
5 reasons why Congressman Pantaleon Alvarez wants to abolish Barangay and Youth Council
1. Intense Graft and Corruption: Barangay council is also not exempted from numerous corruption allegations. Both captain and several barangay council members have been tagged by other officials for being involved in bribery allegations, coordination with syndicates, and involved with the illegal possession, use, and distribution of illegal substances. Youth council members are tagged in funds misuse, which makes it the first phase of practicing corruption.
2. Inefficiency in governance: Numerous reported cases of inefficiencies were tagged against the members of both Barangay and Youth Council. Community initiation and participation were not observed properly. Mitigation of safety management is not properly ensured to secure the district or the barangay including the youth. There were only few barangay captains around the world who initiates new programs for the betterment of the barangay.
3.Saving more money for the government: Every barangay and youth council votes, the Philippine government spends at least 8 billion in Philippine Peso currency. This will be one of the major advantages for abolishing the Barangay and Youth Council in order to save more funds for a future use of other emergent cases in the future. Several funds allocated for the barangay council can be used for other government agencies. This will be the same for Youth Council funds.
4. Decentralization of national government to push through with Federalism: When the Philippines will transform its government into a decentralized Federalism, this means that the power of the national government will have lesser responsibility. Each region around the Philippines will be transformed into different states, having their own jurisdiction over their governance. However, it is more likely that the Youth Council is at risk for abolishment because they still have limited powers to participate with the government due to their age.
5. Revitalize the Philippine government: The Philippines has been bombarded by poor governance from the past administrations. Eliminating Barangay and Youth Councill is just some of the plans to improve good governance for the betterment of the Philippine society. As part of President Rodrigo Duterte's campaign to improve the Philippine society, it is necessary to totally revitalize the nation in order to improve the image of both local and international communities.
