Notes on an SK Press Conference

At the first provincial assembly of the Sangguniang Kabataan today, I could not help but notice that most of the family names of these youth leaders were familiar names. It turned out later in a huddle with these young kids that a lot of them were indeed relatives of incumbent officials from their respective places.

The provincial SK federation chair, a young lady from Bataraza, agreed with my observation that over 70 percent of them, just judging from the name tags that I saw, are relatives of incumbent local officials in the province. So what does this mean? I thought it would be interesting to stir some discussion about this, noting that the SK has received so much flak as the breeding group of future trapos and corrupt public officials. I asked them what they will do when called to take a position on an issue. Will they will defer to their benefactors, mentors or relatives, or will they cast their votes based on their personal convictions?

Most of the answers were predictable and on the safe side. It seems though that the idealism characteristic of the youth flows in their collective vein, especially when they are together and speaking with one voice. The sad reality is when they are made to swim in the high seas of politics along with their accomplished elders, they are often relegated to the sidelines if not swept by the strong currents of political interests.

Maybe Senator Pimentel was right in calling for the abolition of the SK. Or maybe it should be completely overhauled so that leaders are chosen not necessarily by their affiliation but by their leadership abilities. Maybe they should not be elected, as elections are really mostly a sham in these parts. Maybe they should be chosen in a competitive process of selection where leadership qualities will be the norm.

Maybe they should not be given the same pork barrel privileges that are received by their elected peers in the local legislative bodies where they sit. This only creates temptations for them to do as the adults do. Governor JTR who was seated beside me told me of a complaint by his fellow governor from another place that their SK federation chair who sits in the provincial board has learned to lobby for certain contractors bidding for public works projects.

Of the several SK leaders that I’ve observed the past few years, I wasn’t impressed at all. That should explain my overarching cynicism.

Notes on croc attack

It will be tricky to do a full report on the illegal mangrove bark trade for two reasons. One is the difficulty of getting around the farthest ends of Southern Palawan, in Rizal and Bataraza, where road conditions and hostile physical environment (e.g. high incidence of malaria) are a main factor in planning a trip. The other is the politics of the illegal tanbarking trade. I’m looking of doing a coverage before summer ends.

Last week, a seven-old boy from Ransang, Rizal was killed in a crocodile attack, prompting renewed debates on the continued proliferation of tanbarking. Southern Palawan is the only place in the country where one can find the large species of mangroves, ceriops tangal, in a forestal state. This species seems to be particularly suited to tanbarking because of its characteristic thick bark.

The common knowledge is that local politicians are themselves involved in the illegal bark trade, which perhaps explains why it has been so difficult to stop. Atty. Winston Gonzales, Congressman Mitra’s chief of staff, explained to me last week that they had tried to institutionalize the policy of burning apprehended tanbark when Mitra was chair of the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development. This policy, however, seems to have waned and the practice of bidding out these apprehended contraband has lately become the norm. In these bidding processes conducted by the DENR, Gonzales observed that usually the illegal loggers themselves win the bidding.