Gov't reminds SK candidates should not be relative of incumbent officials
The National Youth Commission (NYC) reminded on Thursday candidates for the May 15 Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) election should not be a relative of incumbent elected government officials.
NYC, under the Office of the President, is the highest policy-making body for all youth programs, youth activities and youth organizations in the country. It is supervising the return of the SK with the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and Commission on Elections (Comelec).
Ronald Cardema, NYC officer-in-charge, said in the coming SK election, the government is trying to implement the anti-political dynasty system.
"It is required by the law - by the SK Reformed Act - that relatives (of incumbent elected officials) are not qualified (to run for SK poll). We are trying to do the anti-political dynasty system here in the Philippines, and it is difficult to start at the top. We're starting it with the younger generation now," he said in a press briefing in Malacanang.
Despite a provision in the 1987 Constitution prohibiting political dynasties, Congress has failed to pass an enabling law, apparently because the lawmakers themselves are the ones to be affected.
Under the Sangguniang Kabataan Reform Act of 2015, one of the qualifications of a youth official, either elective or appointee, must not be related within the second civil degree of consanguinity or affinity to any incumbent elected national official or to any incumbent elected regional, provincial, city, municipal, or barangay official, in the locality where he or she seeks to be elected.
Since the filing of the certificate of candidacies started last Saturday, Cardema said so far, there were only 79,000 filed COCs for SK election, still way below from around 350,000 available positions nationwide.
"We really need to inform the Filipino youth to go out and file your - to participate and file your COCs now," he said, noting that the last day of COC filing will be on Friday, April 20.
"Show to our countrymen and to our President’s critics that you proudly support our government and our President; that you are not trolls ? but genuine, young, patriotic Filipinos who are supportive of our government and of our government troops," he added.
Cardema recently replaced Aiza Seguerra, who quit as head of the NYC.
He said the NYC would "redirect" its programs and activities, "not anymore focus on LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) matters just like in the previous years."
"We are the National Youth Commission, not an LGBT commission. We are here to serve the tens of millions of Filipino youth, not only a specific sector within that big youthful population. The LGBT community is already our friend, and has already established its mark in our society," he said.
He said the NYC would look up to neighbors, such as Singapore, South Korea and Japan, in training youth to become nation-builders and military reservists so that when national emergencies besiege the country, they could be immediately deployed to rescue other people.
"So looking up to what our neighbors are doing, we fully support the desired policy of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte for the return of the mandatory ROTC for college students, mandatory CAT for high school students, and also to make scouting ? boy scouts and girl scouts mandatory for elementary student," he explained.
Cardema said his office has decided to stop its partnership with the office of opposition Senator Bam Aquino for his TAYO Youth Awards.
Instead of allocating P1.5 million to Aquino's TAYO Youth Awards, he said the NYC would establish a government youth awards to be called as the “The President Rodrigo Roa Duterte Youth Leadership Awards” for outstanding youth leaders and youth organizations throughout the country, and for organizations of young overseas Filipino workers. Celerina Monte/DMS
