On moving forward: Let's abolish the SK

If we’re not writing about the State of the Nation Address (SONA) today, it is because I believe that there are far more important issues that need to be addressed, which I would like to believe should be discussed more in the 15th Congress than by Pres. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III. God knows this country has already been left behind by our Asian neighbors when then Pres. Cory Aquino took the reins of power from the ill-fated conjugal Marcos Dictatorship. So why haven’t we moved forward since then?

I guess the answer is simple. Thanks to Filipino “crab” mentality, whenever we are able to free ourselves from the bondage of stagnation, you can bet that the media would be there to “expose” anything and then make a media circus out of small issues, making the proverbial molehill into a mountain of trouble. A case in point is yesterday’s article by Neal H. Cruz of PDI that supported the candidacy of Pres. Noynoy. Neal Cruz’s’ column asked “How sincere is P.Noy in eradicating corruption?” His answer is, “Not very sincere.”

One can just imagine that while P.Noy won the presidency in the last elections, he still did not get a clear majority simply because as we already predicted, the winner would be a “minority” President. So whatever P.Noy said in his SONA yesterday, those who didn’t vote for him would take it as merely another nicely written SONA; well-said, but whether he can deliver is another thing. If P.Noy’s supporters like Neal Cruz seriously doubts the sincerity of P.Noy, then you can bet that there will be very rough sailing for the P.Noy administration in the next 6 years. If only we can rid this nation of Filipino crabs, then maybe we have a chance at finally moving forward for the betterment of country and our people.

Meanwhile, one very important issue that needs to be addressed as soon as possible is the proposal to reschedule the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) polls which is due to be held this coming October. One such proposal comes from our very own Rep. Rachel “Cutie” del Mar who wanted it reset to Oct. 2011.

While I am not for the resetting of the Barangay and SK polls, I can understand the concerns of Rep. Cutie who wanted to reset the polls due to a budgetary deficit. She also believes that resetting the polls can save the government P2 billion. I do not question Rep. Cutie’s motives; however, the bigger problem that we are faced with is the reality that resetting the Barangay and SK polls would mean giving a free one-year extra time for many Barangay or SK officials who should never be allowed to sit in their post for another minute!

If the Aquino administration wants to save money because of this budgetary problems, then they should listen to the calls and cries for the total abolition of the SK. We have written volumes about the need for an SK, which we’ve said long ago was the “political toy” for then Presidential daughter Ms. Imee Marcos. This was one Marcos creation that then Pres. Corazon Aquino kept when she practically threw everything out that Marcos created, including the Bataan Nuclear Plant, which we really needed more than the SK. But the SK has become nothing but a political playground of our politicians, letting their children get into the art of politics through the SK. As if the SK wasn’t already represented in Congress via their Congressmen, they even have an SK Partylist, dubbed the Kabataan Partylist.

I submit that the SK was created in Section 13 under the Cory Constitution recognizing “The vital role of the youth in nation-building and shall promote and protect their physical, moral, spiritual, intellectual and social-well-being.” But if you look at our youth today, few of them really look up to their SK leaders because the majority of the youth would rather shy away from something “political”. Yes, while the SK or the Barangay Elections are supposed to be “apolitical” the truth of the matter is, they have become important tools by our politicians because without their support no person with political ambitions could ever hope to win an election. This is the reality we have to face today.

The youth who join the Boys or Girls Scouts have a better chance of becoming good citizens of this country. The training they get in Scouting prepares them to be self-reliant and more importantly, they are prepared to help others in their time of need. But where are today’s youth? They are mostly involved in feuding fraternities. We already know that we have been having problems with them as source of violence in the youth sector. Hence, efforts must be made in the Aquino administration to give a fresh hope for our youth. Consider abolishing the SK and sending the youth to the ranks of the Boys and Girls Scouts.

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