Comelec told: Abolish Sangguniang Barangay, other corrupt agencies, too

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MANILA, Philippines – Believing that the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) is being singled out, a lawmaker on Friday questioned the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) renewed call to abolish the youth council.

In a statement, Kabataan Partylist Representative Terry Ridon said that while the SK had its share of graft and corruption “we cannot help but speculate on the real motive behind the renewed call for SK abolition.”

“Why single out the SK? Why not abolish the Sangguniang Barangay, and every government institution for that matter—including Comelec?” Ridon challenged the poll body.

He said that it was unlikely that SK was the single most corrupt institution in the government.

“Billions of funds are siphoned from government coffers in multimillion infrastructure projects and programs in both the national and local government levels,” said Ridon.

The partylist legislator was suspicious of the Comelec’s plan to put an end to the national youth legislature, saying that by doing so, village councils would gain direct access to the youth council’s funds.

Citing the Local Government Code, Ridon said that P5 billion from the IRA of roughly 42,000 villages was allotted for the SK.

“Without the SK, barangay officials can directly control the whole IRA (internal revenue allotment), thereby giving these corrupt local leaders more funds for themselves,” he said.