CEBU, Philippines — An 18-year-old son of a fisherman in Malabuyoc town is the new president of the provincial Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) Federation and will sit as third ex-officio member of the Provincial Board (PB) starting next month.
Jerico Rubio of Barangay Sto. Niño garnered 37 votes from the 51 attending SK chairpersons from the different local government units across the province. His opponent, Charice Managaytay of Pinamungajan town, garnered 16 votes.
Rubio is also the nephew of a mayoral candidate named Erlinda Quiñones who lost in previous local elections in their town. His elder brother was also the previous SK chair in their barangay. Despite coming from a family with political history, he said that it is his first time to get involve with politics.
As early as now, the new provincial SK president aims to make projects which can help the out-of-school youths through providing TESDA trainings. He also wants to consult various people on what are the good things to do.
As an incoming provincial legislator, Rubio admitted that he still lacks training especially in making ordinances, resolutions, and parliamentary procedure. He added that this is a shared concern among his colleagues in the SK.
Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) provincial officer Jerome Gonzales assured that the agency will be providing more training to the youth leaders to equip them with the knowledge and skills needed to do their jobs as public servants better.
Unlike in the elections for the Associations of Barangay Captains (ABC), the elections for the provincial SK Federation was done through nominations. Gonzales said that there was no need for the aspirants to submit a Certificate of Candidacy (COC). He explained that the submission of COCs is practiced by the ABC because it is their policy as an autonomous body.
Gonzales said the elections of the provincial SK Federation officials were done smoothly. It was, however, kept from the media. Gonzales said there were other nominees who declined their nomination because they wanted to focus in their own barangay.
The other winning officers are Ian Arioja of Compostela town as Vice President; Dallie Cabatingan of Mandaue City as Secretary; Aia Apostol of Badian as Treasurer; Leo Binondo of Santander and Tracy Ursal of Medellin as PROs; Lawrence Quijano of Carcar City and Rebelito Tapdasan of Tuburan as Sergeant-at-Arms. The eight new officers immediately took their oath before Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III.
In his speech, the governor told the youth leaders to also take an active part in the war against illegal drugs in their own ways. He also encouraged them to read the Philippine Constitution and the Local Government Code. — FPL (FREEMAN)