SK REFORMS OR ABOLITION?

Before us, as a nation, is the important issue of whether the Sangguniang Kabataan must be abolished. This is prompted by the public perception that the youth organization has failed to perform its mandate of being the training ground for future leaders of our country. Instead, the continued existence of the SK is met with criticisms of inefficiency, uselessness and worst, that it has succumbed to graft and corruption. It certainly is a sweeping and serious charge to consider SK as nothing but a burden to the Philippine society. In fairness to the youth, and those who have passed through its frontier once, there are those who deserve recognition for having performed well their mandate, in the halls of the Sanggunian, be it at the Barangay level or the local government councils. But of course, there are those who in their youthfulness have failed to reach the expectations of the people. It is important that we must look into the reasons why and how they have reached such point and extent to earn the wrath of certain sectors of our society. It must be borne in mind that the youth, must constantly be under the control and supervision, and care of their parents or guardians. In any endeavor or undertaking that they are tasked to accomplish, those who have the legal and moral obligation to guide them should insure that they are within the bounds of what is right, and what is legal. The moment the youth would fail in their role as nation builders, then those who are care for them must necessarily be partly to blame.

In 1975, April 15 to be exact, the Kabataang Barangay was established. Back then, the organization was met with criticisms. At that time, every Kabataang Barangay unit has no funds of its own, and each is dependent on the Barangay budget which is controlled by the Barangay council. Yet, KB has excelled in its role of being the ground for youth development specifically in sports, leadership and participatory democracy. Today, the ranks of KB prides themselves of former KBs who are now leaders of our country. Many of whom are now elective local and national officials. Others have been appointed to key government positions. They are performing well.

It is certain that the SK can likewise boast of the same accomplishments, and it is clear that it is but a matter of looking into their organizational and operational weaknesses in order that reforms could be introduced. They may include, but not limited to the following:

a) Selection of SK Chairman and officials must not be highly politicized. The old system has been found effective, and that is, through a general assembly convened for the purpose. Rules may be promulgated to insure an orderly conduct of such assemblies. Campaign and elections can be done with during an assembly.

b) The budget of the SK may go through the same process prescribed under existing laws and policies. Expenditures must however be limited to certain significant items, and discretion should be limited or none at all.

c) Qualifications for SK positions should be stricter and those vying for such positions must undergo a certain set of written examinations on values, virtues, ethics and good governance principles.

d) SK officials must be easily replaced or suspended in the event that an adjudication or disciplinary council organized under the law has found erring officials to be probably guilty of an irregularity. The council may be composed of a trial court judge as chairman, and two members whose reputation for probity, integrity and impartiality is beyond refute.

The foregoing are just among the many reforms at could be instituted. Abolition of the SK is not the solution. Our leaders ahead of us have already determined the wisdom and benefits of involving the youth in nation building through a government mandated organization. We cannot now judge and declare that they were wrong. We have an obligation to make it right and not to evade what we are mandated to uphold and support - the development of the youth.


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Location:South Luzon Expressway,San Pedro,Philippines

A VISION FOR CLEAN, HONEST AND AFFORDABLE ELECTIONS

A credible election body is an integral part of any democratic system. Without such qualification, meaning, credibility, the republican institutions will not gain the absolute trust of the people. There will constantly be doubts not only on the efficiency of the government, but also on the sincerity and integrity of those in public service to care for the people. Consequently, mistrust, misconception and corruption would continuously plague society since the common perception is that the misconcepted government does not really represent the people's heart, and automatically, their welfare. Instead, it promotes the interest of the few and the powerful. Even worse, a mistrusted or corrupted system would thus precipitate misconcepted, mistrusted and corrupted results at the expense of the people, as well as the government.

At the end of the day however what matters is the cyclic circuitous partnership of the people in general and public servants in a necessity called right and reliable nation building.

The Philippines has already devoted years of sacrifices and hard work spending millions of pesos in order to upgrade the quality of elections in the country. We have gone into automation, and biometric documentation of registered voters. The rules of procedure in election cases and related matters have been revised, amended and continuously improved if only to be responsive to practically every specific situations or elections. Even the Supreme Court has promulgated landmark cases which are now considered jurisprudence. Special measures have been passed by Congress to give more teeth to election related penal laws. Resolutions have been formulated and approved by the Comelec to govern the conduct of elections, and practically to instill discipline among the electorate and the candidates as well as political parties.

Every Filipino who voted is marked with an indelible ink in their fingernail. What if in the mind and the heart of every Filipino, the desire for a real and credible election has been indelibly inked with the unfaltering commitment to true and right national building? Perhaps, just may be, the once "impossible Dream" of a right and reliable elections will finally be a catalytic reality for the benefit of all the people and their credible government.

In other words, after everything has been said and done, why is it that we are still encountering the same problems of, among others, vote-buying, election overspending, "flying voters", election related violence and terrorism? Why is it that despite the stringent safeguards installed to have clean and honest elections, a lot of cases are resolved with findings of election fraud? Why is it that it takes time for the Commission on Elections to resolve cases particularly but not limited to those involving barangay contests? Why is it that simple and basic guidelines governing election materials and propaganda are not being followed? Why is it that notwithstanding thousands of election law violations, only a handful have been charged in courts?

When will these all end?

It may not. After all, politics have been ingrained in the imagination, dreams, and everyday lives of our fellow Filipinos.

Wrong. There is light at the end of the tunnel if and when the people are guided through proper election values and ethics. The administration of His Excellency, President Benigno S. Aquino III is leading our nation towards this direction, in general, when he heeded the cry of the people for change and consequently entered into a social contract with them for transformational change and leadership.[1]

Therefore, following the lead, the COMELEC is obviously faced with such enormous tasks of :

(1)    completely cleansing the voters' list;

(2)    simplifying procedures and processes to reduce costs and expenses on the part of the voters, candidates, or election litigants thereby making elections and subsequent contests within the reach of everyone;

(3)    recommending immediate and long term reforms in the electoral system;

(4)    expeditiously disposing election cases in a manner that decisions should not only be a determination of the true will of the people, but must also be timely, to make such true will as expressive of good governance;

(5)    improving or enhancing the automotive election system to make it viable even for barangay elections and recall elections;

(6)    attending to its administrative concerns involving COMELEC employees' welfare and benefits as well as improving working conditions and offices all over the country;

(7)    studying and implementing further means to establish a cost-effective conduct of elections here and abroad;

(8)    instituting better access to facilities that will enable persons with disabilities, senior citizens and women with special concerns (primarily, pregnancy) to exercise their rights to suffrage with ease or convenience;

(9)    reviewing current election laws and the codification of all resolutions to be applied universally in any elections thereby minimizing the issuance and promulgation thereof, in toto, every now and then, even if only certain provisions have been changed or modified;  and

(10)increasing the benefits of and protection to public school teachers and other COMELEC designated poll workers.

Some of the concrete reforms may be as follows:

a)       Accreditation of poll watchers shall be done upon completion of a prescribed training conducted by the COMELEC. A certification made by the poll watchers on the minutes shall bind the candidates represented. This will eliminate frivolous election contests at the first level.

b)       Initiatory and responsive pleadings in election contests shall be in a prescribed form and the specified allegations must be supported by judicial affidavits and documentary exhibits. Failure to comply with this requirement shall be a ground for automatic dismissal without any right for reconsideration or appeal.

c)       Barangay election contests may be elevated only on certiorari and in the same case injunctive relief's may be prayed for. This will reduce the cost of litigation and may even expeditiously dispose barangay cases.

d)       All proceedings shall be considered as summary in nature unless the COMELEC declares otherwise on certain specific grounds such as technical examinations and those related to matters which may attach certain criminal liabilities.

e)       The use of voter's identification cards shall be compulsory in nature.  The tampering or illegal use thereof shall be a  penal offense. It may serve as a senior citizen card, among others.

f)        Appointment of COMELEC Marshalls to be considered as persons in authority who shall be highly trained in the enforcement of election laws.

g)       Registration of printing press with the COMELEC or its field offices prior to acceptance of printing works from candidates or persons.

h)       Designation of permanent poster areas with official identifying markers to be installed by the COMELEC.

i)         Registration of media companies (newspaper, television, radio etc.) with the COMELEC or its field offices prior to acceptance of campaign materials or advertisements; and

j)         Enactment of laws which will increase the penalties for certain election offenses and expanding the definition of electoral sabotage.

There is no reason to be overwhelmed by the fact that there is so much work yet to be done. What is important is that they can be done, and work must either be continued or start now, without let up, and with the vision for genuine change in mind.

May God help us and . . . "that in all things, God may be glorified."

© caloy caliwara 2013

  

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[1] http://www.gov.ph/about/gov/exec/bsaiii/platform-of-government/ as posted by way of a link at quezonianconscience.blogspot.com

Brief History of Tayabas

Around the 1580s, the Franciscan Friars began the systematic process of Hispanization and Christianization called reduccion, a system that involves two major processes of socio-cultural transformation: urbanization and Christian instruction.

The Spanish missionaries observed that the natives tended to live near the field or on the hills where they planted crops in the mountains and forest where they hunted or beside the rivers or along the seacoasts, particularly in sheltered bays and protected channels between the many islands, where seafood abounded. The rivers and seas likewise provided them with means of escapes from enemies and avenues of travel and communication. Those who lived inland were, in most cases, into slash and burn type of agriculture. There was neither a town nor a city in the European style, let alone a central government that unified the natives.

Because the natives lived in scattered settlements far from each other, it was extremely difficult for the missionaries to catechize and administer the sacraments to them unless they came together to live in larger communities and build their own towns and churches.

Friar Juan de Plasencia took a leading role in resettling the dispersed natives into compact villages or poblaciones or, in other words, in reducing the small, scattered settlements into larger settlements as people of that time used to say. He urged the natives to concentrate into the plains, where they should be taught how to till the land. Furthermore, he took advantage of a royal decree granting aid to missionaries for the construction of churches in their mission areas. To accelerate the reduccion of the natives, he asked the Spanish monarch and the governor of Manila to compel them to live in towns.

Once the natives were resettled in suitable places they could be under the protection of the missionary, "who would teach them how to build and to furnish simple human habitations as well as agriculture and other elements of progress." The head settlement or cabecera, where the basic elements of Spanish urban life where found, constituted the poblacion or the capital of what would come later as the pueblo. Plasencia's project of forming "pueblos de indios" proved to be so successful that his methods were accepted by all missionary groups working in the Philippines.

In implementing the reduccion policy, the missionaries followed what Spanish law had already dictated on how to establish towns and cities. The poblacion had to follow on gridiron pattern, with rectangular street blocks and with streets "drawn a cordel y a regal (straight and at right angles to one another) at the center is the church, and within its perimeter was the cemetery. The people were to live literally and symbolically debajo de la campa, under the bell or within hearing distance of the bell. (Excerpts from Fr. Renato Pareja's book History of the Diocese, 2010)

Pasted from <http://www.quezon.gov.ph/about/tayabas.html>

Quezon Forum

The Quezon Forum FB page was created and launched this month of March 2013. The objective is to empower Quezonians to determine for and among themselves what is best and necessary for Quezon Province. It is deemed appporiate that now is the most opportune time to do this for the simple reason that our future and current leaders must be given the generous chance to truly express their sincere oneness with noble Quezonian hopes, aspirations and needs. The Quezon Forum will reach out initially to Quezonians through the social media and thereafter through other possible means. Naturally, even after the 2013 Elections, these initiatives will be dynamically continued and monitoring efforts shall be undertaken to ascertain which of the recommended actions or programs are being carried out or may have been accomplished, or which of the cited problems and concerns that were or are being addressed. Be an active and integral part of these efforts. Like Us at Facebook now. You will surely make a difference.
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The Quezonian Mind

Admittedly, the late Manuel Luis Quezon is perhaps the only President who has left so much of his mind and heart to all Filipinos.

His speeches have been characterized by and emphasized the importance of democracy, nationalism, nation-building, social justice, good citizenship and national unity to achieve progress.

He has concrete plans to bring the government literally closer to the people. He worked hard for the independence of the Philippines which led to the establishment of the Philippine Commonwealth.

All these and such other remarkable legacies have helped shaped what we can call as "The Quezonian Mind" - which is actually the true Filipino spirit that places the welfare of the greater majority above personal interest. That greater majority starts with your own family, then the community and eventually the entire country.

Peace : Key to Progress

During his first inaugural address on November 15, 1935 as the First President of the Philippine Commonwealth, the late President Manuel Luis Quezon stated thus:

"There can be no progress except under the auspices of peace. Without peace and public order it will be impossible to promote education, improve the condition of the masses, protect the poor and ignorant against exploitation, and otherwise insure the enjoyment of life, liberty and property. I appeal, therefore, to every Filipino to give the Government his loyal support so that tranquillity may reign supreme in our beloved land."

He was correct at that time and still is even now. He was calling for unity and for others to lay down their arms. He was firm in his belief that true progress can be achieved if there is peace and order.

78 years thereafter, where are we now? Have we achieved peace?

Obviously, there is still much to be done after all these years. What can we possibly do as individuals to achieve genuine peace?

Tanong

Ano kaya ang nasa iniisip ng dating Pangulo at yumaong Manuel Luis Quezon ng kaniyang opisyal na inilathala ang "Code of Ethics and Citizenship"?