ILOILO City – Young people in Barangay Libertad-Santa Isabel, Jaro district are not interested in the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK).
Not one of them filed a certificate of candidacy either for SK chairman or councilor for the May 14 synchronized barangay and SK elections.
Despite this, the elections will push through, stressed Atty. Reiner Layson, city election officer.
“But no vote would be counted because there would be no ballots cast. The board of election inspectors would simply record this fact in their minutes, and the same would be informed or reported to the election officer and to the Department of Interior and Local Government,” said Layson.
Barangay Libertad-Santa Isabel, Jaro is the only village in this city with no candidates for SK chairman and councilors.
Layson said Barangay Timawa Tanza 1 in the City Proper has no candidate for SK chairman, too, but it has several youngsters running for SK councilor.
According to Layson, one youngster actually intended to run for SK chairman in Barangay Timawa Tanza 1 but he inadvertently filled out and filed the wrong certificate of candidate – that for barangay councilman.
Meanwhile, there are no candidates for SK councilor in these other barangays: Desamparados and Maria Cristina in Jaro; Magsaysay in La Paz district; Yulo Drive in Arevalo district; and President Roxas and Sampaguita in the City Proper.
The SK developed out of the Kabataang Barangay established in 1975 during martial law by President Ferdinand Marcos to give youth a chance to be involved in community affairs and to provide the government means to inform youth of the government’s development efforts.
According to Layson, a total of 1,659 certificates of candidacy were filed for the SK election – 375 for chairman and 1,284 for councilor.
Fifty candidates for SK chairman have no opponents, he revealed, while 95 barangays have SK candidates for councilor less than the seven available slots required for each youth council.
The Local Government Code has laid down the procedures in filling up vacancies in elective posts, including those for the SK, said Layson.
Under the SK Reform Act of 2015, SK officials must be aged 18 to 24 on the day of the election.
Each elected SK official has a three-year term./PN
