Retired police general and senatorial aspirant Gen. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar vowed to level the playing field in the election of Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) in a bid to give more opportunities for poor but smart and qualified youth to serve their communities as chairpersons or members of the youth council.

Eleazar also emphasized that he is not in favor of abolishing the SK but stressed the need to empower it through some reforms to level the playing field for the poor but deserving youth.

“Maraming mga matatalino at qualified na mga kabataan na anak ng magsasaka, tricycle at jeepney driver, mga tindera sa palengke at mga mahihirap na hindi nabibigyan ng pagkakataon na maging miyembro ng SK dahil eleksyon pa lang ang laki na ng gastos (There are a lot of smart and qualified youth who are children of farmers, drivers, vendors and other poor families who are not given the opportunity to be SK chairpersons or members of SK council because they could not afford to spend money for their elections),” said Eleazar.

“Kaya sa napakatagal na panahon, naging parang exclusive ang SK sa mga anak at kamag-anak ng mayayaman at ng mga nasa kapangyarihan na handang magbuhos ng pera sa SK election (So for a long time, the SK appeared to be exclusive to the children and relatives of the rich and powerful who are willing to spend money for their election,” ,” he added.

He stressed: “Kung hindi natin babaguhin ang sistema sa SK, anong pagbabago ang mapapala ng ating ating bayan kung sa murang edad pa lang ay exposed na sila sa trasdisyunal na konsepto ng pulitika (If we will not reform this system in the SK, what changes can our country achieve if at their young age, they are already exposed to traditional concepts of politics”.”

While there are poor youth who were elected as SK chairpersons and council members, Eleazar said the reality on the ground is that the SK election has not been fair to the poor but deserving youth at the barangay level and even at the election of SK federation presidents.

For a start, Eleazar said there is a need to reform the SK election by leveling the playing field in order to give more opportunities to smart and qualified but poor youth who want to serve as chairperson or member of the SK Council.

He cited the case when he was still the director of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) wherein he shattered the padrino system in the recruitment of police officers in order to level the playing field for all the applicants and ensure that only the best and qualified applicants could enter the Philippine National Police.

Eleazar expanded the drastic reform in the recruitment system nationwide when he became the Chief PNP.

As a result, a number of children of poor families were able to achieve their dream of becoming a police officer.

“The drastic reform in the PNP recruitment system which I initiated is something that I want to see when it comes to SK. Lagi nating sinasabi na ang kabataan ang pag-asa ng bayan, pero paano natin ito magagawa kung hindi patas ang laban para maging SK Chairperson or SK Council members?,” said Eleazar.

The retired PNP chief then suggested that instead of holding SK election that is patterned after the traditional political election, SK election should be more inclusive wherein each purok of the barangays must have at least one representative to run for SK chairperson.

He said each of those running for SK chairperson must present his platform of government before the youth in their barangay through a barangay youth assembly and after that, election must immediately start.

“If a debate is needed, so be it if that’s what it takes to test the leadership quality of the candidate. In this way, mas maraming matatalino at qualified na kabataan ang mabibigyan ng pagkakaton na maging SK chairperson o member ng SK council dahil kahit papano patas na ang laban at naka focus sa pagalingan In this way, there will be more intelligent and qualified youth who would be given the chance to be SK chairperson or SK council members),” said Eleazar.