![Basketball hoop with SK logo in Santa Barbara Iloilo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Basketball_hoop_with_SK_logo_in_Santa_Barbara_Iloilo.JPG)
Sangguniang Kabataan (abbreviated as SK; ) is a council meant to represent the youth in each
barangay
A barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as barrio (abbreviated as Bo.), is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district, or ward. In metropolitan ...
in the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
. It was put "on hold", but not quite abolished, prior to the
2013 barangay elections.
In January 2016, the Sangguniang Kabataan Reform Act was signed into law which made some significant changes to the SK and initially scheduled new elections for October 2016.
In March 2017, the elections were postponed anew to May 2018.
The SK Chairman leads the Sangguniang Kabataan. A Local Youth Development Council (LYDC) composed of representatives of different local youth groups supports the SK and its programs.
The Sangguniang Kabataan is the successor of the Kabataang Barangay (KB; ) which was abolished by the
Local Government Code
Codification of laws is a common practice in the Philippines. Many general areas of substantive law, such as criminal law, civil law and labor law are governed by legal codes.
Tradition of codification
Codification is predominant in countrie ...
of 1991. The author, Senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr. abolished KB because of allegations that this organization faced.
Function and structure
Each Barangay houses a Sangguniang Kabataan composed of a chairman, seven members, a secretary, and a treasurer. The Kagawads, or councilors, approve resolutions and appropriate money allotted to the council. The Chairman automatically sits on the
barangay council
The Sangguniang Barangay, also known as the Barangay Council, and formerly as the Rural Council and then the Barrio Council, is the legislative body of a barangay, the lowest form of government in the Philippines. The term is coined from the Tag ...
as an
ex officio
An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term '' ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by right ...
member and is automatically chairman of the Committee on Youth and Sports, one of the standing committees of the barangay council.
The council represents youth who have resided in their barangay for at least one year and registered to vote. It leads the local youth programs.
Members of the SK receive payment for serving on the council.
Under the
Local Government Code
Codification of laws is a common practice in the Philippines. Many general areas of substantive law, such as criminal law, civil law and labor law are governed by legal codes.
Tradition of codification
Codification is predominant in countrie ...
, only the SK Chairman receives money but in some areas the practice is that the chairman shares his payment with other members of the SK council.
In one barangay, each SK member received 500 pesos per month from the chairman.
Local Youth Development Council
Under the 2016 reform, a new Local Youth Development Council was formed to support the SK programs and to be composed of representatives from different youth organizations in the community including student councils, church and youth faith groups, youth-serving organizations, and community-based youth groups.
"The LYDC aims to harmonize, broaden and strengthen all programs and initiatives of the local government and non-governmental organizations for the youth sector", said Senator
Bam Aquino
Paolo Benigno "Bam" Aguirre Aquino IV (, born May 7, 1977) is a Filipino politician and social entrepreneur who served as a Senator of the Philippines from 2013 to 2019. He is a member of the prominent Aquino family in the Philippines.
Pre-p ...
in October 2015, then chairman of the Senate Committee on Youth and co-author of the reform act.
SK Federations
Every Sangguniang Kabataan is part of a municipal or city SK association, which are in turn members of a provincial SK association. A barangay's SK Chairman represents the barangay in the municipal or city association. The presidents of the city and municipal federation are, in turn, members of the provincial or metropolitan associations, all of which have their own elected president as well. The presidents of
independent cities' and provinces' associations compose the membership in the national association and elect the national president who automatically sits on the
National Youth Commission.
History
Predecessors
The SK developed out of the Kabataang Barangay, established during
martial law
Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory.
Use
Marti ...
by President
Ferdinand Marcos
Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. ( , , ; September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino politician, lawyer, dictator, and kleptocrat who was the 10th president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled under martial ...
.
Marcos established the KB in 1975 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.
His daughter
Imee Marcos was chairman.
Controversy surrounded the KB, including the enforcement of authoritarian rule among youth, opposition of militant youth activity, and the KB's failure to develop youth as a responsive collective. Since then, the KB grew less popular among youth and instead student activism became the trend in youth participation in the country. In June 1986, a study was conducted on the KB and included the following recommendations: abolish the KB; create a National Youth Commission (NYC); establish a National Youth Assembly; and set up genuine youth representation in government. Youth consultations were held, and the KB was abolished by the government. However, then-president Corazon Aquino had already established the Presidential Council for Youth Affairs (PCYA) instead of NYC, which was successful in coordinating with the youth federations to develop future national leaders, but lacked the powers envisioned for the NYC because PCYA merely coordinated with youth groups. A proposal was then crafted by the Congress youth representatives and PCYA's technical committee in 1989 to 1990.
The proposal that created the
Katipunan ng Kabataan
Sangguniang Kabataan (abbreviated as SK; ) is a council meant to represent the youth in each barangay in the Philippines. It was put "on hold", but not quite abolished, prior to the 2013 barangay elections. In January 2016, the Sangguniang ...
(KK) and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) was incorporated into the 1991
Local Government Code
Codification of laws is a common practice in the Philippines. Many general areas of substantive law, such as criminal law, civil law and labor law are governed by legal codes.
Tradition of codification
Codification is predominant in countrie ...
(known as Local Autonomy Act or Republic Act No. 7160). It formally abolished the KB and created the KK and SK. The KK includes all Filipino citizens, age 10 to 18 years, who reside in each barangay for at least six months and are registered in the official barangay list. The SK is the governing body of the KK, a set of youth leaders elected by the KK members to represent them and deliver youth-focused services in the barangay.
The age range of the youth eligible for the KK and SK was reduced to 15 from below 18 due to the changes by Republic Act No. 9164, which amended the Local Autonomy Act, in 2002.
Sangguniang Kabataan reform
![SK Reform Law changes](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/SK_Reform_Law_changes.jpg)
SKs developed a poor reputation. One youth advocate said he was dissuaded from running for an SK because "Aside from the lack of concrete legislative and youth development programs, I have heard of certain issues raised against the SK like corruption, nepotism, and recurring programs focusing on sports festivals and pageantry only."
A 2007 study by
UNICEF
UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...
and the
Department of the Interior and Local Government said, "The SK's performance for the past ten years has been generally weak. This is especially true in terms of coming up with legislations, promoting the development of young people, submitting reports and holding consultations with their constituents."
Because of concerns that the SK is a "breeding ground for
political dynasty
A political family (also referred to as political dynasty) is a family in which multiple members are involved in politics — particularly electoral politics. Members may be related by blood or marriage; often several generations or multiple sibli ...
and exposing the youth to corruption and the practice of traditional politicians" known colloquially a
trapos Republic Act No. 10632 was enacted in 2013 to (a) postpone the scheduled October 2013 SK elections until some time between October 28, 2014 and February 23, 2015 and (b) leave vacant all the SK positions until new officers are elected.
The bill explicitly prohibits the appointing of officials to fill the vacant positions.
Sen.
Francis Escudero
Francis Joseph "Chiz" Guevara Escudero (, born October 10, 1969) is a Filipino lawyer and politician serving as a Senator since 2022, and previously from 2007 to 2019. He recently served as governor of Sorsogon from 2019 to 2022, and was the re ...
said the vacancies would technically abolish the SK.
During this time, the Commission on Elections (
Comelec COMELEC or Comelec may refer to any of the following:
* Commission on Elections (Philippines) (Comelec)
* North African Power Pool
The Comité Maghrébin de l'Electricité (COMELEC), also Maghreb Electricity Committee and North African Power Poo ...
) and the
Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) issued regulations on how the barangays are to use the 10% of Internal Revenue Allotment set aside for SK activities and mandated the creation in each barangay of a "Task Force on Youth Development".
In the place of SKs, ad hoc youth committees were formed.
In January 2015, as the February 23 deadline approached for the date of the postponed elections, the Philippine House of Representatives unanimously passed a reform bill.
Among the reforms are the raising of the age of SK officials from between 15 and 17 years old to between 18 and 21; the raising of the age of voters from between 15 and 17 to between 15 and 21; an anti-dynasty provision that forbids candidates from having a relative in public office that is within the second degree of affinity; and provisions to increase SKs' fiscal autonomy.
Immediately after passing the reform bill, the Philippine House passed a bill further postponing the SK elections from February 2015 to October 2016 to be held at the same time as the barangay elections of 2016.
In March 2015, a law postponing the elections to 2016 was signed by President Aquino.
However, the elections were eventually held in May 2018.
[
On January 15, 2016, the Sangguniang Kabataan Reform Act (Republic Act No. 10742) was signed into law which made some significant changes to the SK.] It changed the age of the council from 15 to 17 years old to 18 to 24 years old and it forbids individuals from seeking a youth council appointment who are closer than the second degree of consanguinity
Consanguinity ("blood relation", from Latin '' consanguinitas'') is the characteristic of having a kinship with another person (being descended from a common ancestor).
Many jurisdictions have laws prohibiting people who are related by blood fr ...
(having the same grandparents) from any elected or appointed official in the same area. It is the first Philippine law with an anti-political dynasty
A political family (also referred to as political dynasty) is a family in which multiple members are involved in politics — particularly electoral politics. Members may be related by blood or marriage; often several generations or multiple sibli ...
restriction for elected positions, as permitted by the 1987 Philippine Constitution. The reform also created a Local Youth Development Council to support the SK programs, composed of representatives from different youth organizations in the community including student councils, church and youth faith groups, youth-serving organizations, and community-based youth groups.
SK elections
Since 1992, there have been three simultaneous nationwide SK elections held in the Philippines which each term lasting from three to five years due to amendment of the regular 3-year term of the council.
Except in 1992 and 1996, Sangguniang Kabataan elections have been synchronized with the barangay
A barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as barrio (abbreviated as Bo.), is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district, or ward. In metropolitan ...
elections starting in 2002, but in 2013, only barangay elections were held. The term limit for Sangguniang Kabataan officials is usually three years but since the first election, there have been extension of terms ranging from one to two years more in office.
* 1992 Philippine Sangguniang Kabataan election
Sangguniang Kabataan elections were held on December 4, 1992 after the enactment of the 1991 Local Government Code of the Department of the Interior and Local Government. The Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) (Youth Council) is the governing body in every ...
on December 4, 1992
* 1996 Philippine Sangguniang Kabataan election
Sangguiniang Kabataan elections were held on May 6, 1996. The Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) (Youth Council) is the governing body in every chapter of the ''Katipunan ng Kabataan'' (Youth Federation). Each ''barangay'' in the Philippines is mandated b ...
on May 6, 1996
* 2002 Philippine barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections
Synchronized Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections were held for the first time in the Philippines on July 15, 2002. The elections were now synchronized after the passage oRepublic Act No. 9164which was approved on March 19, 2002 by th ...
on July 15, 2002
* 2007 Philippine barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections
Synchronized Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections were held on October 29, 2007, based on the newly amendeRepublic Act No. 9340 approved on September 22, 2005, by the 13th Congress of the Philippines which prescribed that Barangay and ...
on October 29, 2007
* 2010 Philippine barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections
Synchronized Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections were held on October 25, 2010 in the Philippines. The electorate elected in nonpartisan elections, the Barangay chairman also known as the ''Punong Barangay'' and members of the ''Sangg ...
on October 25, 2010
* 2018 Philippine barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections
Barangay elections in the Philippines were held on May 14, 2018. The election shall elect the '' Punong Barangay'', more commonly known as barangay captains, and members of the ''Sangguniang Barangay'', or barangay council, in 41,948 barangays (v ...
on May 14, 2018
* 2022 Philippine barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections
Barangay elections in the Philippines is scheduled to be held on October 30, 2023. The election shall elect the barangay captain, and seven members of the Sangguniang Barangay, or barangay council, in 42,022 barangays throughout the country. Bar ...
on December 5, 2022
See also
* Youth council
* Youth politics
References
External links
Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) Constitution and By-Laws
Sangguniang Kabataan Reform Act
o
Gov.ph
{{Philippine local, barangay and Sangguiniang Kabataan elections
Katipunan ng Kabataan
Youth councils
Barangays of the Philippines
Legislatures of the Philippines
Local government in the Philippines
Tagalog words and phrases