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DILG may ask for special day for COC filing for SK posts


The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) may ask the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for a special day for the filing of certificates of candidacy (COC) for the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) polls if some areas have an insufficient number of candidates for the number of elective positions.

Interior Assistant Secretary Jonathan Malaya said there may be places where no one filed a COC for youth council posts.

"It is my hope, and the hope of the department, na napunuan po natin yung kakulangan dun sa SK. But just in case kinulang for the SK, the DILG will request the Commission of Elections for another day of filing dun lang po sa lugar kung saan walang tumakbong SK kagawad or SK chairman," he told GMA News Online.

Some youths will be barred from seeking SK posts on account of the anti-political dynasty provision of the SK law, while some are prioritizing their schooling, said Malaya in a report by Tina Panganiban-Perez on Balitanghali on Monday.

If the Comelec turns down the request—if it is formally filed to begin with—the Interior department will ask mayors to appoint local youth development officers in their areas under Republic Act No. 10742, or the "Sangguniang Kabataan Reform Act of 2015."

These officers will be tasked to continue and develop youth development programs originally assigned to SK officers, but will not have the same powers as elected officers.

"Ang munisipyo ng lungsod, kailangan mag-appoint na lang sila ng local youth and development officer, yung tinatawag na LYDO. Kasi po yung LYDO, sa bawat munisipyo, yun na po yung tatayo at magpapatuloy ng mga programa na dapat ginagawa ng SK," Malaya said.

Officers who will be appointed to these positions will be subject to the same rules as SK officers, including the pre-appointment training, mandatory continuing training, and the anti-dynasty law.

Meanwhile, there is no cause for concern in the number of barangay seat aspirants, said Malaya in the report.

As of 5 p.m. last Friday, 684,785 candidates are contending for 335,584 barangay positions, while 386,206 youths are eyeing the same number of SK seats nationwide.

The Comelec en banc extended the COC filing period until last Saturday, after the National Youth Commission worried that the number of COCs filed would fall short of the 338,584 SK seats.

The barangay and SK polls will push through on May 14 after being postponed twice, from its initial October 2016 schedule to October 2017, then to May 2018. — Nicole-Anne C. Lagrimas and Rie Takumi/BM, GMA News

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