Abolish, not just postpone, the SK elections!

Just when we thought that things were moving ahead for us, we are suddenly given two important postponements. Apparently, before he left for his Brunei state visit and for his four-day China visit, Pres. Rodrigo "Digong" Duterte signed the first law postponing the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections, which was supposedly scheduled on October 31.

Pres. Duterte earlier agreed to the postponement of the SK and barangay elections, saying it would prevent narco money from being used for the campaign and election of barangay officials linked to illegal drugs, and we totally agreed with him that the core of the war against illegal drugs is being fought in the barangay level. All told, some 6,000 local officials, including mayors and barangay captains have been linked by law enforcers to illegal drug activities.

According to news reports, my good friend, Election Lawyer Atty. Romulo "Mac" Macalintal would be questioning the postponement of the barangay and SK elections before the Supreme Court, as there is no such law allowing for the extension of the terms of office of barangay and SK officials.

We also learned that Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista have agreed to the said postponement of the barangay and SK elections to next year. So let's see what the SC has to say about this postponement of the barangay and SK elections. But if you ask me, there is no more time to prepare for these elections, as October 31 is just a couple of weeks away.

Frankly speaking, I do not only want to postpone the barangay and SK elections. I dare say that they should be totally overhauled so that they do not become a breeding or political playing ground of the siblings of political families who have controlled elections in this country for decades. As for the SK, I have already written it here that it should have been abolished when the Marcos Dictatorship was removed at the height of the EDSA Revolt 30 years ago. As a replacement, the Boy and Girl Scouts of the Philippines should be given more government support. The Scout Movement for me is a better program for the advancement of our Filipino youth. But no one cared to listen and our politicians simply used the SK for their own selfish purposes.

We gathered from Sen. Edgardo Angara who is pushing for the SK Reform Act or Republic Act No. 10742 that this postponement was good in the sense that the government was not yet ready to implement the reforms of the said RA, one of which is the mandatory training of SK officials. All I can say is that the SK Reform Act is a mere palliative to solve whatever is wrong with the SK. I still say that we should abolish the SK all together and throw the program into the dustbin of Philippine political history.

*** Still on the issue of a postponement. Apparently, the Supreme Court has deferred ruling on the controversial order of President Duterte allowing for the interment of the late President Ferdinand Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Taguig City. During its session the other day, the high court once more extended (for the second time) the status quo ante order it issued last August stopping the Marcos burial. So the next target date for the SC decision is November 8th.

We gathered from a Star report that the Justices were split on two main issues and thus, these Justices asked for more time. Whatever their decision would be for sure the pro-Marcos loyalists would not be happy if the SC ruled against a burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. I still believe that postponing this decision will not solve anything.

If the SC wanted a compromise decision, they can always opt to have the late Pres. Marcos buried at the Manila North Cemetery, where many Philippine Presidents are buried. Notable among them is our very own Pres. Sergio Osmeña, Sr.; Pres. Ramon Magsaysay; and I think Pres. Elpidio Quirino. Pres. Carlos P. Garcia is the first and only president to be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

*** I got a lot of email response to our articles about how Mandaue City Mayor Luigi Quisumbing is doing to help solve the traffic problems in Mandaue City. As we already pointed out clearly studies have shown that this traffic congestion is costing Cebu at least P247 million per day, and when I bumped into my good friend, Primary Structures President, Mr. Wally Liu. We had a long and serious talk about the "small-things-that-matter" when it comes to solving the problem between Mandaue and Mactan. We concluded that having a truck ban during daytime would have the biggest effect. Yes, container vans travelling between Mactan and Cebu cause traffic. If we did this, it would be a great move to decongest this stretch of road between Mandaue and Mactan. This is something we should seriously consider.