THE SANGGUNIANG Kabataan (SK) Federation urged the aspiring chairmans and councilors to focus on health programs and Katipunan ng Kabataan (KK) profiling in their platforms for the upcoming elections on Oct. 30.
SK Federation president Jaffar Marohomsalic told TIMES on Aug. 29 that they must be attentive and focus on reproductive health care services for the youth.
“Because, even before when I was also a new chairperson, I wasn’t aware na ingana diay kadako ang problema especially sa reproductive health concern sa atong mga kabatanonan (I didn’t realize how big the problem is, especially our youth’s reproductive health concerns),” Marohomsalic said.
“Mas pakusgan pa gyud ang (We intensified) data gathering, for example, the K profiling, mao gyud na ang importante kay ( that’s what really matters because) we cannot really address problems if wala tay data, that will be our baseline on creating our projects, programs, annual budget for next year,” he added.
Marohomsalic discouraged the SK from running basketball and volleyball leagues since, while they contribute to youth engagement, they are not the focus of the federation.
He urged the aspirants to be financially literate and be informed in wise budget disbursement as once elected they are required to handle their own account as stated in the Republic Act No. 10742 Section 20 that “the SK shall have financial independence in its operations, disbursements and encashment of their funds, income and expenditures.”
The official also stressed that SK aspirants should not run for the honorarium alone but rather to pursue their passion for public service.
“At the end of the day, pag magsulod kag office, di man gud na sya enough, di man gyud ka mo dato ana gyud, so we are hoping nga that honorarium nga ihatag nato sa ilaha is murag support lang to sya para mas makatrabaho sila (At the end of the day when you enter the office, it’s not actually enough, you’re not going to be rich. So we’re hoping that the honorarium we give them is just like a support so they can work efficiently),” Marohomsalic said.
The official revealed the honorarium that they will receive is only 25% of the ten percent (10%) general fund of the barangay disbursed for the SK’s youth development and empowerment purposes.
He is expecting much on the performance of the ‘soon to be elected’ SK aspirants and is confident they are a new breed of “thinking out of the box” youth.
