there is no rocky hill to a man of iron will

Rush Hours

Rush Hours

What to do when your idea is torn
For you’re in a hurry as deadline was on
And you must scrabble for something
But deep inside, nothing is going

A break would help as they say
Cheer up relax and feel gay
For ideas can come up
In a least unexpected way

But things isn’t easy to take
Especially now that you’ve already make
A hundred a thousand break
Still nothing good is going inside your head

What remains to be untouched
In those courageous sparkling eyes
Was a blurring vision of tears
That needs to be patch

And you want to run and shout
For the kind of defeat
Those embroil you outside
Cause your grieve inside

But my child you almost forgot
That one battle is not enough
To surpass and fight the kind of life
That you once chose in height

Things are never really perfect, I dare say
But somewhere deep inside, they are perfectly alight
And it only need sometimes
For the virtue of patience to be realize

The Call for Action

The Call for Action
By: Alexander C. Sevilla


Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) is now the hot bed discussion of political dialogues in the country. It is unfortunate that enlightened debate on the abolition of SK is taking progress in the Congress. And while the youth holds on the belief that they can improve and reform the present system of SK, there is an iota of laws who maker believes in it.

Why should we reform SK instead of its abolition?

The youth involvement in local and national government is backed by Philippine Law, under Article II Section 13 of the 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines. It affirms that “the State recognizes the vital role of the youth in nation building… it shall inculcate in the youth patriotism and nationalism and encourage their involvement in public and civic affairs.” The SK, as one of the organization that mandate this provision serves as a training ground for future leaders to be more yielding and compliant in order to be a law-abiding citizens of the country.
Another important point to consider is its ability to carry programs on places concerned such as the cultural, intellectual, moral, spiritual and physical aspect. Henceforth if we abolish SK, the mainstream of youth participation is dislodge. We must also bear in mind that SK per se is not bad. If you would take a closer look at the powers and functions of it, you would see that it has a strong conviction on good governance and an enlightening idealism in promoting helpful changes in the society. Plunging deeper to the organization, you can easily pinpoint that the problem lies on those officers who breathe wrong doings in the organization. And therefore the administration of governance lies in getting proper man. From these statements we can take a simple analogy; that we are blaming the gun yet we forget to blame the one who pulls the trigger.

Issues and Concerns

Let me start with the need for a guiding philosophy which should be the framework for the reform process. The heart of the organization is the youth. SK had taken what perhaps the most important prerogative towards youth participation, which is leadership skills. Although the initiative of youth actions is tied with social responsibility as the guiding principle, it failed to give emphasis on the scholastic activities of officers who will govern.
A survey conducted by Lingap Kabataan ng San Rafael (LIKA ng San Rafael) last May, in relation to the problems addressing most officers revel that nine (9) out of ten (10) officers of Sangguniang Kabataan in Bulacan, during their term in office, found the difficulty and growing conflict between the school’s calendar and the schedule in SK. And as they focus their selves’ on studies, they pay less attention to their responsibility as a local official in their community or vice versa. This would always result to improper governance leading to negative situations.
Another problem is the level of maturity each officer have. While we exposed the youth, as early as 15 years old in the right way of exercising governance, we fail to understand that their level of analysis on certain matters and issues is not that strong, enough to propose or speak in behalf of its constituent. In simple words they tend to go with the flow.
The later issue often than not, leads to our third concern, which is commitment. Commitment as defined is an agreement to perform a particular activity at a certain time in the future under certain circumstances. And the saddest part is the fact that there is a mass of these situations in our society. Allow me to cite the SK officers of Ilocos Norte as an example. The youth council has been tag as a “non-performing” organization. As the story goes, they failed to do their task to accomplish the needs of its locality. But non-conformance is not the enemy we should fight; somehow the commitment of officials to do their task is what we should give a new life.
Finally, the issue that calls for well experienced leaders that could govern properly. Feedbacks range from inexperienced officers who don’t know how to propose or make an ordinance to officers who doesn’t give any concern for the organization. It appears that we hire a man to drive our car who in the first place doesn’t know how to drive.

Taking the Solution

Before we can initiate an action to meet the aforementioned problems, we must first draft a resolution to be submitted in the Congress. This resolution will push for certain amendments on the provision concerning the Sangguniang Kabaataan. This amendments would be emphasize later on my position paper.
It is impossible to say that time management will solve the problem of officers who at the same time is studying in schools, since conflict will arise every now and then. But how can we solve the aforementioned problem if we do not know which of the two should be the top priority? And could we choose without neglecting the other one? To solve this matter, let the words of Plato enlighten us. Plato in his most acclaimed work, The Republic, emphasize that “if a sound education has made them reasonable men, they will easily see their way through all matters as well as other [areas]… if a sound system of education is maintained, it produces men of a good disposition, and these in turn taking advantage of such education develop into better men that their forebears”. This statement tackles the importance and at the same time proves that in order to achieve good governance leaders must have a working knowledge on different things. But this does not underline the fact that the officers had to be watchful on what is happening on their respective places. The point is how can a leader lead a flock of man if the leader cannot express his or her own sentiments in simple sentence?
Now that we already answer the question which to prioritize, let us now answer the main question, how? In a modern technology like what we have today, officers can talk on issues and think of solutions through the aid of technology. One is not required to be physically present in a meeting to make sound judgment. So while on school, they can make decisions via phone calls or text.
In the case of those officials who are in high school, the solution is easy to put in life. Although they must attend classes from Monday to Friday, still, they can monitor the events on their barangay hand in hand with their parents. Problems addressing the youth can reach the chairman even if he/she is in school for the fact that reports and concerns can be send in the house of the chairman. We should be reminded that it is not a must to go to the barangay hall to solve a problem; anyway we can make a tough decision anywhere, even at home (If the situation needs an immediate solution, then there is the barangay captain who shall act to solve it). The chairman after receiving the reports can call for a meeting, depending on its urgency on Saturday and Sunday. He/she has the responsibility to disseminate the information and act on it accordingly. The same is through with those in college levels. After all they can adjust their time depending on the schedule of their studies.
Second we must extend the bracket of those who are qualified to vote and participate in local election. Why not instead of the present age which is fifteen (15) to twenty-one (21) adjust it to twenty-three (23)? Basically maturity lies on the age of the individual. The higher age you acquire, the more mature you become. On this occasion the youth can choose tough officers who would later serve them and be their voice. These would also facilitate healthy governance on the place. Reality bites that mature individuals have the tendency to initiate strong and principled action for the common good than of those who are not.
Since we had already addressed the need for a mature officer, it would be easy to work out the insufficiency on commitment. But the problem does not heavily lies on the officials, moreover it goes on the constituents. We had seen that in most cases many places are not interested in participating and thus, they failed to achieve certain goal. So what we must do is to increase the people’s awareness and commitment towards the organization. SK needs more than just a glance, it requires time and cooperation. The problem that I saw especially in our place is the fact that constituents are not interested and pessimistic. So what we must attend at this point in time is to wipe that negative connotation.
The chronic problem of inexperience leadership can be solved without difficulty. What the local community should do is to facilitate or if they don’t have such budget send the officers to other political or related organizations who can give the necessary information. They must attend different seminars as well as forums and they should inculcate and practice what they learn. I propose that before candidates file there candidacy on COMELEC they should first show certificates of trainings, related to the position they aspire and together with the barangay captain conduct short interview to know if the candidate can express his/her thoughts freely. They should also hold related work so that they will be more familiar to what they should do. In addition, they should have at least a basic knowledge on parliamentary practice and procedure (they could ask on councilors of the barangay or councilors of the town). This would automatically solve the problem addressing those who don’t know how to draft or create resolutions.
Like any other organizations in the country, SK had its own share of inadequacies and problems. And like any other organizations there will always be solution to meet these problems and in return this will add force to the organization to face more difficulty in the future. But at the end of the day, it is important that we as member of this organization do our part and share the responsibilities given to us and not just stand in the shore to watch how the waves scatter on the sand. We have seen the outcome of this painful situation and since we do, it’s our duty to prove to everyone that we can continue the fight that our predecessor had started; a battle towards development and good governance.