It’s that season again, when people resurrect doubts about its worth, and dust-off old arguments for the abolition of the Sangguniang Kabataan.
We in the COMELEC, on the other hand, try to steer clear of that sort of thing. As long as it’s in the books, we will conduct the elections.
Having said that, I would also like to say that while there might be some instances of corruption, there is a lot of good that the SK system can do. Apart from the usual “it trains kids for leadership,” the SK can also be a real force for good at the community level. If only the people supposed to mentor the SK kids had more imagination. I mean, enough basketball rink backboards! There’s loads of youth projects from overseas that can be used as templates by SK kids, and lots of on-line resources to learn about them. There’s The Freechild Project, for instance.
All it really takes is the determination to do better.
The SK Elections are open to voters aged 15 to 17. Registration for the elections run from August 6 – 15, from 8am to 7pm. As usual, registration will be at the office of the COMELEC Election Officer of the city or municipality where you live and will vote.