The document discusses the historical evolution and governance of barangays and the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) in the Philippines, highlighting their roles as basic political units and platforms for youth participation. It outlines the origins, significance, challenges, and proposed reforms regarding youth governance, emphasizing issues such as corruption and political dynasties within the SK system. The content stresses the vital role of youth in nation-building as enshrined in the Philippine Constitution and the ongoing debates around the effectiveness and future of the SK structure.

1. Barangay and SK Governance in the
Philippines1
1
A requirement submitted by Michael John D. Sison in partial
fulfillment of the requirements of the course Local Governance
and Regional Administration (DM 219) under the Supervision of
Dr. Josefina B. Bitonio; 1st
Sem., S.Y. 2014-2015

2. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to thank authors, writers, bloggers, and everybody who
sparked ideas about governance and youth participation in Philippine
governance. Their work has greatly contributed and helped me in
completing this graduate school requirement.
I would also like to thank my professor, Dr. Josefina Bitonio, who
accommodated me in finalizing this project.

3. LEARNING OBJECTIVES
 Origin
 Definition
 History
 Issues
 Springboard discussion

4. Origin
Barangay
Before the Spaniards came to the
Philippines, there were well-founded
organized independent villages
called Barangays, tracing their
origin to balangay, a Malay word
meaning “sailboat.”

5. Definition and Importance
Barangay
In the Philippines, a barangay is the equivalent of a
village. It is the basic political unit as enshrined in
the 1987 Constitution and the 1991 Local
Government Code or LGC (PIDS, 2009).

6. Definition and Importance
Barangay
Among the local
government units (LGUs),
the barangay is
considered to be the level
closest to the people in
terms of access and
proximity (PIDS, 2009).

7. History
Traditionally, the original
“barangays” were coastal
settlements built by Malayo-
Polynesian groups who migrated
to the archipelago from other
places in Southeast Asia. Most
relied on fishing for food and
livelihood (InterAksyon.com).

8. History
Pre-Hispanization
The first barangays started as relatively small
communities of from 50 to 100 families
(InterAksyon.com).
Legends state the then Philippine archipelago was
settled by Bornean datus who founded a political
configuration in the Visayas and wrote legal codes
(Miclat, 2012).

9. History
Pre-Hispanization
A barangay was headed by a datu who is the
executive, legislative, and judge in consultation with a
council of elders. Datuship was attained through the
inheritance, physical prowess, wealth, wisdom, or
through the combination of these attributes. The
leadership is also referred to as rajah, gat and lakan
(Miclat, 2012).

10. History
Spanish Period
Once settled, the Spaniards begun their colonization
through their sword and cross. They adopted the
existing system of barangays (Miclat, 2012).
(Then,) many barangays had already developed into
large communities (InterAksyon.com).

11. History
Leyte
PampangaPampanga
SuluSulu
CebuCebu
There were bustling
trade centers among the
affluent and powerful
coastal barangays in
Laguna
Laguna
Pasig
Pasig
Pangasinan
Pangasinan
Cagayan
River
Cagayan
River
Pre-Hispanization
Source:
InterAksyon.com

12. History
Spanish Period
BARANGAY headed by
Cabeza de
Barangay
(barangay chief)
formed part of the Elite ruling class;
was at first inherited from the first
Datus ; and
primary job was to collect taxes (or
tribute).
Source: De Guzman, 2010

13. History
American era: rural councils
When the country came under American colonizers,
Rural Councils were created: four councilors assisted
the village chief now re-named Barrio Lieutenant,
now our barangay captain (InterAksyon.com)
Also, during the American regime, the barangay
became the barrio (De Guzman, 2010).

14. History
Barangay under dictatorship
President Ferdinand Marcos ordered the renaming of
barrios back to barangays. The cabeza de barangay
became the punong barangay or the barangay captain.
The municipal council was abolished upon the transfer of
powers to the barangay system (De Guzman, 2010).
Marcos issued Presidential Decree 86, creating the
Citizens Assemblies in December 31, 9172
(InterAksyon.com)

15. History
In April 8, 1974, President Ferdinand Marcos issued
Presidential Decree 431, amending Barrio Charter Act which
changed the terms for the barangays:
Source: InterAksyon.com

16. History
Barangay post-EDSA
After the 1986 EDSA Revolution, the Municipal Council was
restored under the new Constitution, making the barangay
the smallest unit of Philippine government.
Landmark changes in the powers and responsibilities of the
barangay system came about with the Local Government
Code of October 10, 1991, chiefly authored by then former
Sen. Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel Jr. (InterAksyon.com).

17. History

18. History
After the EDSA Revolution in 1986 and the
drafting of the 1987 Constitution, the Municipal
Council was restored, making the barangay the
smallest unit of government in Philippine politics.
Political parties take advantage of the power of the
barangay because of its strong influence on the
grassroots level (De Guzman, 2010).

19. The Present-day Barangay
Section 384 of the Local Government Code of 1991
states that: “As the basic political unit, the barangay
serves as the primary planning and implementing unit
of government policies, plans, programs, projects and
activities in the community, and as a forum wherein
the collective views of the people may be expressed,
crystallized and considered, and where disputes may
be amicably settled,” (De Guzman, 2010).

20. The Present-day Barangay
The present-day barangay is composed of:

21. The Present-day Barangay
The Sangguniang Barangay has seven regular members
and the Barangay Sangguniang Kabataan president (Miclat,
2012).
Each member heads a committee:
Peace and
Order
Appropriations,
Finance, Ways
and Means
Education Agriculture
Health
Youth and
Sports
Infrastructure
Tourism
Source: De Guzman, 2010

22. The Present-day Barangay
In the process local level politicians and leaders
had engaged themselves in the electoral exercise. This
had become the training ground for younger generation
political leaders from traditional political dynasties and
elites in the local areas...
The exercise institutionalized a socio-political
phenomenon of petty ego-inflating and fiefdom-building
schemes that perpetuated political dynasticism in the area
(Miclat, 2012).

23. The Present-day Barangay
5 things that barangay officials get (Go, 2013):
Discretion over the IRA;
Share in other allocations for local government units;
Power to collect fees for what we thought were “normal” activities;
Health insurance, scholarships, automatic civil service eligibility;
and
The chance to become city/town councilor or provincial board
member and make laws

24. Issues
“Ang kabataan ang pag-asa ng bayan,” this
striking line was penned and immortalized in the
poem A la Juventud Filipina (To the Filipino Youth)
by Dr. Jose Rizal, the country’s national hero and
pride of Malay race.
In the context of youth participation in Philippine
governance and Sangguniang Kabataan, can we
say that the youth of this country have fared well in
taking up that challenge?

25. Article II, Section 13 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution
The State recognizes the
vital role of the youth in
nation-building and shall
promote and protect their
physical, moral, spiritual,
intellectual, and social well-
being. It shall inculcate in the
youth patriotism and
nationalism, and encourage
their involvement in public
and civic affairs
(http://www.gov.ph).

26. Even before it became a signatory to the
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN
CRC), the Philippines had already enacted a
law to ensure that the voices of children and
young people were heard on issues that
directly concerned them. So far, it is the only
country in the world to have a grassroots-
based, government-funded political structure
for young people that is recognized nationwide
(UNICEF, 2007).

27. Legal Bases
 PD603 or the Child and Youth Welfare Code.
“The child is not a mere creature of the State.
Hence, his individual traits and aptitudes should
be cultivated to the utmost insofar as they do not
conflict with the general welfare,”
(www.lawphil.net).

28. Legal Bases
 Republic Act No. 7160, or the Local Government
Code of 1991.
It formed the Katipunan ng Kabataan (KK) to tap
and harness the energy, enthusiasm, and
idealism of young people. Those aged 15 to 17
years old in a barangay could register in the KK
and have the right to vote and be voted into a
governing body called the Sangguniang Kabataan
(SK). (UNICEF, 2007).

29. Accomplishments and success
stories
In 2007, UNICEF, et al, published its study The Impact of Youth
Participation in the Local Government Process, it highlighted the
potentials of the Sanguniang Kabataan that:
“Like the KB, the SK has produced a crop of local government
officials, as well as national legislators. SK Federations at all levels
have also been consistent in celebrating the annual Linggo ng
Kabataan (Youth Week), a yearly weeklong event when youth
members get the opportunity to act as officials of all local government
and national agencies for a week.”

30. Accomplishments and success
stories
Other concrete examples of the SK’s potential as a vehicle for
youth participation:
• Some SK officials in the barangay and municipal levels
consistently involve the KK and other youth in
consultations and project development.
• A former SK chairperson mentored his successor in
developing projects that went beyond holding the usual
summer sportsfest such as basketball tournaments for
young men in barangays.
• Another SK official coordinated with her fellow SK officials
and with proper agencies to initiate a
reforestation project in her area” (UNICEF, 2007).

31. Issues
Over the years though, as
what often happens with a once-
noble purpose, the Sangguniang
Kabataan has been twisted and
turned into something that is no
longer in unison with its original
purpose. It has become as open
to graft and corruption as the government itself, and instead of
fostering future good leaders, it only seems to teach the youth about
the corruption that exists in the government at a very early age.
- Tony Katigbak

32. Republic Act No. 10632
An Act to postpone the
Sangguniang Kabataan
Elections on October 28,
2013, amending for the
purpose of Republic Act
No. 9340, and for other
purposes.

33. Problems at the local level:
 Training ground for political dynasties;
 Access to public funds as a breeding ground for corruption;
and
 Responsibility, transparency, and accountability issues; and
 Can be easily manipulated/persuaded or corrupted by the
Philippine political system and/or other public officials.

34. Problems at the national level:
 A study was made two Mass Communication
students in University of the Philippines Diliman to
explore the proliferation of corrupt practices in the
Sangguniang Kabataan National Federation
(SKNF), the highest unit in the system of youth
participation in Philippine governance. The
researchers found that corrupt practices exist in the
SKNF due to the lack of external auditing. Since its
inception in 1992, the SKNF remains free from
auditing despite the millions of public funds that the
office holds.

35. Problems at the national level:
The study entitled SK: Sistemang Korap? An
investigative study of corrupt practices in
the Sangguniang Kabataan National
Federation, the researchers found that no
government agency owns up to the responsibility of
monitoring and overseeing the proceedings of the
SKNF. Agency heads, however, pointed out that
SKNF officials are too young and are ill-equipped to
carry out the duties given to them, being only
between 15 to 17 years of age upon assumption of
office (iskwiki.upd.edu.ph ).

36. Which side are you for?

37. SK Abolition
According to Marlon Cornelio, Chair of the Youth Governance
and Participation Committee, Youth and Students Sector of
National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC YS), there are
various reasons for SK abolition:
One, SK is considered as a breeding ground for corrupt
leaders. Two, SK officials are non-performing or have
insignificant contribution to the community; most of their
projects are building waiting sheds and signages, sports fests
or paliga. Three, SK officials cannot perform their function as
they have to attend school (or SK officials have to cut
schooling just to perform their functions). And four, they are
just too young, easily corrupted and irresponsible (Cornelio,
Marlon).

38. SK Reform
There have been numerous bills filed in both houses of Congress to reform
parts of the SK or completely replace the youth representation system:
Senate Bill 1090, establishing the Liga ng Bayaning Kabataang (LBK). It
aims to increase the age bracket of youth officials to 18-24 years old, from
15-17 years old. The new body will be composed of representatives of
accredited youth organizations (by Sen. Bam Aquino);
Kabataan Empowerment bill (by Senator JV Ejercito) (Bueza, 2014).

39. SK Reform
There have been numerous bills filed in both houses of Congress to reform
parts of the SK or completely replace the youth representation system:
Senate Bill 663, proposed to extend the term of barangay and SK officials
to 5 years from the current 3 years (Sen. Bongbong Marcos);
House Bill 1122, which seeks to replace the SK with a Barangay Youth
Council. He was also among the proponents of the SK elections
postponement law; and
For its part, the NYC pushes for SK Reform and Empowerment Bill, for
SK fiscal autonomy, the amendment of the age of youth officials, and
mandatory leadership and entrepreneurial trainings (Bueza, 2014).

40. SK Reform
 Call for SK reform
Instead of the SK Federation set-up, Aquino proposed the
Local Youth Development Council framework, which will
empower other youth organizations and turn them into
partners of elected local youth councils.
"What this means is that young people’s needs will not be
the sole responsibility of the SK, but of your organizations
as well," Aquino said in Filipino (Roca, 2014).

41. SK Reform
 Youth entrepreneurship
Another policy resolution that Aquino singled out was the
one formulated by the parliament’s Committee on Youth
Employment, which proposed to support entrepreneurship
opportunities for young Filipinos.
“We will ask the Department of Education to include
financial literacy and entrepreneurship (in our) basic
education curriculum and in tertiary education,” he said
(Roca, 2014).

42. To or not to revive Kabataang
Barangay?
 There are those who say that could only be expected of a
body patterned after the Kabataang Barangay (KB), a
brainchild of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos. The
KB was meant to counter the growing popularity of the
Left among the youth but soon became a tool to
perpetuate the Marcos regime and deprive his enemies of
recruits.
But those who created the SK years later apparently saw
something in the KB structure that made them
appropriate it for the new youth organization. That wasn’t
what made it open to corruption, though (Olarte, Avigail).

43. Springboard Discussion
Dr. Jose Rizal, the country’s national hero,
penned and immortalized in the poem A la Juventud
Filipina (To the Filipino Youth) the line: “Ang
kabataan ang pag-asa ng bayan.”
Throughout the decades, in the context
of youth participation in Philippine
governance and Sangguniang Kabataan, has
the youth of our country has fared well in
taking up that challenge?

44. WEBLIOGRAPHY:
READ MORE ON THESE ONLINE RESOURCES:
 Antonio, Raymund, F. Registration for SK polls set. http://www.mb.com.ph/registration-for-sk-polls-set/ September 6, 2014
 Balod, H. S. & Goño, C.M. The SKema of Youth Leaders: An Investigative study on the Regulation of the Sangguniang Kabataan, Unpublished
undergraduate thesis, University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication
http://iskwiki.upd.edu.ph/index.php/The_SKema_of_Youth_Leaders:_An_Investigative_study_on_the_Regulation_of_the_Sangguniang_Kabataan#.U_013t
(2010).
 Bueza, Michael. Congress urged to fast-track SK reform bills.
http://www.rappler.com/nation/65731-national-youth-commission-congress-fast-track-sk-reform-bills Published August 09, 2014
 Bueza, Michael. Registration for 2015 SK polls set. http://www.rappler.com/nation/68291-registration-2015-sk-election September 05, 2014
 Bueza, Michael. SK reforms to bring us back to Kabataang Barangay?
http://www.rappler.com/nation/40508-sk-reforms-hearing-kabataang-barangay Published October 04, 2013
 Cornelio, Marlon. Amidst Mounting Calls for Abolition, SK Should Start Working Good! A Position Paper on SK Abolition.
http://akbayanyouth.wordpress.com/campaigns-and-activities/campaigns/sk-reform-position-paper/
 De Guzman, Sara Soliven. The vital role of the barangay in nation building.
http://www.philstar.com/opinion/625786/vital-role-barangay-nation-building Updated November 1, 2010
 Delos Reyes, R. and Lopez, M. Sistemang Korap? An investigative study of corrupt practices in the Sangguniang Kabataan National Federation.
Unpublished undergraduate thesis. University of the Philippines Diliman.
http://iskwiki.upd.edu.ph/index.php/Sistemang_Korap%3F_An_investigative_study_of_corrupt_practices_in_the_Sangguniang_Kabataan_National_Federa
(2014).

45. WEBLIOGRAPHY:
READ MORE ON THESE ONLINE RESOURCES:
 Fernandez, Amanda. Comelec orders update of SK voters’ list ahead of registration. GMA News
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/378781/news/nation/comelec-orders-update-of-sk-voters-list-ahead-of-registration September 11, 2014
 Go, Miriam Grace A. 5 things we serve barangay officials on a silver platter. http://www.rappler.com/nation/politics/elections-2013/42316-barangay-
officials-funds-powers-perks Posted October 27, 2013
 Katigbak, Tony. Time to abolish the Sangguniang Kabataan. INTROSPECTIVE in The Philippine Star.
http://www.philstar.com/opinion/2013/07/10/963744/time-abolish-sangguniang-kabataan Updated July 10, 2013
 Ladia, Charles. Why the Sangguniang Kabataan needs an overhaul. http://www.rappler.com/move-ph/ispeak/70347-sangguniang-kabataan-needs-
overhaul September 27, 2014
 Olarte, Avigail, M. So Young and So Trapo. Focus on Filipino Youth: The Lost Generation in Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism.
http://pcij.org/i-report/3/sk.html Published September 2005.
 Reyes, Ernie. BARANGAY HISTORY 101 | From pre-Hispanic, to colonial to modern, the barangay chief's 'the man’ InterAksyon.com
http://www.interaksyon.com/article/73585/barangay-history-101--from-pre-hispanic-to-colonial-to-modern-the-barangay-chiefs-the-man October 28,
2013
 Roca, Toby. Bam Aquino: SK reform a priority. http://www.rappler.com/move-ph/58505-aquino-youth-parliament-resolutions-gifts Published May 21,
2014
 Uy, Jocelyn, R. Youth polls wanted reset. http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/639783/youth-polls-wanted-reset#ixzz3Fj55Ygq8 Philippine Daily Inquirer.
September 22, 2014
DISCLAIMER:
ALL OF THE PICTURES/GRAPHICS USED IN THIS PRESENTATION ARE NOT AUTHOR’S OWN.