House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Joey Sarte Salceda is optimistic for the enactment into law of a bill seeking to grant Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) officials honoraria and appropriate certificates of civil service (CSC) eligibility.
The House of Representatives has recently approved on second reading House Bill 10698, which is expected to benefit about 300,000 SK kagawads and chairmen.
“With the Senate version already approved, and the House expected to approve this on final reading next week, we will likely see enactment. There is strong minority and majority support for the measure, so I expect very smooth sailing for this proposal,” the Albay lawmaker said.
The pending bill covers two measures: HB 1030, which proposes granting SK councilors the “barangay official eligibility” issued by the Civil Service Commission, and HB 1667, which provides SK councilors honoraria.
Currently, the law only provides the said benefits to SK chairpersons.
“If we want to professionalize the SK, we also have to ensure that its efforts are compensated. The SK were very crucial to the fight against Covid-19, as they were among the barangay frontliners that could be mobilized for ‘ayuda’ distribution and module distribution,” Salceda said.
The bill will provide SK councils honoraria, allowances and other emoluments allowed by the law.
In addition, the measure seeks to expand the functions of SKs. Among these are skills training, youth employment, environmental protection, values education, and other programs specific to the vulnerabilities affecting young people.
The bill mandates that a background in finance or accounting is a must for SK treasurers.
The measure also wants to appoint a local youth development officer in every local government unit to coordinate SK efforts.
“52 percent of Filipinos are below 24 years of age. The SK allows individuals up to 24 years of age to run for the SK. That means the majority of Filipinos are SK constituents. We should not neglect this crucial level of government,” Salceda said.
He said that the House would likely name its conferees next week to facilitate the Bicameral conference meetings during the session break.
Hopefully, we can do bicam during the session break and ratify during the final six session days before the term expires after elections. Better yet, we can do bicam next week and even ratify by Wednesday next week, if the Senate and House leaders are willing,” the lawmaker said.