President Aquino is standing pat on his proposal to abolish the old and inefficient system of Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) in the country as part of the government’s reform agenda, according to a Palace official.

Presidential Communications Operations Office head Herminio Coloma said he hopes the public would recognize that the welfare and concerns of the Filipino youth could still be advanced and protected without necessarily electing a youth council.

Coloma made the remarks after some lawmakers and youth groups criticized the President for depriving the youth to participate in nationbuilding if the bill on the abolition of SK polls will be approved by Congress.

The President has endorsed the holding of the barangay elections this October but wants the SK abolished to save government costs. He has certified as urgent a bill seeking the election of a single youth representative in the youth council on October 25 as well as synchronization of the national, local, and barangay polls 2013.

“We have a lot of experience to determine if the SK elections have been effective or not. We must recognize that there are new realities. Just because it is tradition or culture that we have been used to, it doesn’t mean that’s the only thing we should follow,” Coloma said over government radio.

“The President was elected into office with a huge mandate for change and this (abolition of SK) is one of the areas we can consider an area of change,” he added.

Coloma also explained that the election of the youth council is not the only method in which the welfare of the youth could be promoted, citing the President’s platform of improving the country’s education system is intended to promote a better future for the youth. “I think we should widen our beliefs that SK is not the only infrastructure or representation of the youth that could show what the government does for them,” he said.

As this developed, Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Rene Sarmiento Sunday said he is supporting the abolition of the SK.

Sarmiento said that he agrees with Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo to abolish the SK.

“The proposal of Secretary Robredo is good. I am for it,” he declared.

The poll official said SK should be abolished, stressing that it is not a good training ground for young people. “The young learn early about the bad side of politics like commissions in contracts and projects,” said Sarmiento.

He said he is also convinced that the young would have difficulty in combining their studies and their political career.

“It’s difficult to combine studies and political career,” Sarmiento said.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) submitted on Thursday a draft measure to Malacañang, calling for the abolition of the SK and the election of a youth representative in the October 25 elections, citing the group’s failure to be functional and effective in the delivery of public services under the Local Government Code.

Robredo said the draft measure will seek to repeal Section 423 to 439 of the Local Government Code that will, in effect, totally abolish the Katipunan ng Kabataan or the SK., and the amendment of Section 387 (a) and 390 of the same Code to include a youth representative in the barangay who will be elected at large by the youth aged 15 years old but less than 18 years old during the barangay elections.

The draft measure is expected to be certified as urgent or a priority bill by the President.

Relatedly, Comelec Spokesperson James Jimenez Sunday said the barangay elections will push through even if the SK would be abolished.

Jimenez said the barangay elections will not be affected if the SK elections will be scrapped since the two are not dependent on each other. “We’ll still hold the barangay polls. They are not dependent on each other. It just so happens that they are synchronized,” he said.

Jimenez, however, said he would rather that the SK elections will not be abolished to give the people especially the youth the opportunity to vote.

“Personally, I would say let’s go on with it because that will give everyone especially the youth the chance to vote and participate in the process of governance,” he said.

But Jimenez said the decision on whether to scrap or not the SK polls or even the postponement of the barangay and SK elections is up to the lawmakers and not on them.

“If you want to extend, scrap or reform the SK in any way it’s not us that you should talk to. Talk to Congress. We just do the elections and I think these people know that,” he said.

“Whatever they tell us in hearing even if they say we have to re-schedule that, we would still not act on that because that’s still not a law,” added Jimenez.

As far as the Comelec is concerned, he said, they would still go ahead with their preparations for the October 25 polls. “We will not do anything differently unless there’s a law,” Jimenez said.

The poll body is expected to meet Monday with Senate and Congress to discuss the proposal to postpone the barangay and SK elections to a later date.