Duterte hikes standards, honoraria for Sangguniang Kabataan members

President Rodrigo Duterte has signed a law granting additional qualifications and compensation for Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) members.

This is provided under Republic Act 11768, which was signed on May 6 and released on Tuesday, May 17.

The new law amends the previous legislation by mandating the SK chairperson to appoint an SK treasurer with an educational or career background relating to business administration, accountancy, finance, economics, or bookkeeping.

If no person meets the requirements, the law requires the SK chairperson to  consider  other  suitable  nominees, provided furthermore that the the appointed SK treasurers will undergo a mandatory bookkeeping training from, and be duly certified by, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) before assumption to office and that the appointed SK treasurers will prioritized  in the allocation of the appropriate  TESDA scholarships.

Likewise, the new law grants SK members, including the Sangguniang Kabataan treasurer and secretary, a monthly honorarium chargeable against the  SK funds, in addition to any other compensation provided by existing laws and will be granted at the end of every regular monthly Sangguniang Kabataan meeting.

Such monthly honorarium, however, should not exceed the monthly compensation received by the SK chairperson, provided further that not more than 25% of the SK funds shall be allocated for personnel services.

The Department of Budget and management will issue the necessary guidelines to implement this provision.

In addition, the law allows local government units to grant additional honorarium as well as social welfare contributions and hazard pay to the SK chairperson and  the  elected  and appointed members through their own local ordinances provided that the honorarium as stated in this section will be subjected to the post-audit jurisdiction of the Commission on Audit.

Under the previous SK law, the honoraria benefit is limited to SK chairperson. — BM, GMA News