The DILG provincial office has indicated it will strictly abide by DILG-NYC Joint Memorandum Circular No. 1, series of 2024, on the filling up of vacancies in the youth council.
The circular allows the city or municipal mayor to appoint an officer-in-charge in case no SK chairperson was elected in the last SK polls and reiterates previous guidelines on the filling up of vacancies in the SK membership only if the vacancy occurred during the term of office, i.e., the member resigned, died, was incapacitated, removed from office, or assumed as SK chairperson or any other elective position.
DILG data shows that all 315 Sangguniang Kabataan councils in Catanduanes are headed by elected chairpersons but 97 are considered incomplete, meaning the council does not have the requisite seven members, the chairperson not included.
A search of the list of candidates for SK posts in the October 2023 BSKE indicates that there were three barangays which did not elect a single SK member and four with just one elected member.
According to the Local Government Code of 1991 and related laws, the SK funds may be utilized only if allocated in an annual budget which needs to be approved by the SK through a resolution.
And Section 53 of the LGC provides that for the SK to transact the business of approving its budget, it has to have a quorum, which is the majority of all SK members, including the SK chairperson, who have been elected and qualified.
Clearly, there is no quorum to transact business in the SK council if it consists of just the chairperson or even the chair and one member, there being no majority of elected members.
A DILG opinion on the issue stated that if there is no quorum, then there will be no business that may be transacted which will result to failure to enact appropriations, in which case reenacted budgets will be in operation.
Why so few youths wanted to run for SK member in a considerable number of barangays not only here but elsewhere, despite the fact that RA 11768 already provides honorarium for all SK officials, should provide the DILG lessons on how to ensure complete youth representation in the next BSKE, if it is held at the end year.
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Last week, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) reminded the public of its permanent ban on the gathering, marketing and consumption of two species of “butete” or pufferfish with scientific names of Lagocephalus lunaris and Lagocephalus lagocephalus.
The fish naturally contain tetrodotoxin (TTX) which is 1,200 times deadlier than cyanide and affects the nervous system.
Those affected first feel a tingling sensation in the lips and mouth followed by dizziness; tingling sensation in the extremities; difficulty speaking and maintaining balance; muscle weakness and paralysis; vomiting and diarrhea. In severe intoxications, respiratory paralysis can lead to death.
This came after a resident of Virac succumbed to poisoning after eating “butete” along with his family.
A family member said that Tribune in an interview that they had eaten the fish several times in the past but did not suffer symptoms.
The problem is some scientific studies have found that two species of pufferfish, Lagocephalus wheeleri and L. spadiceus were non-toxic. This could have led people who have eaten the fish to believe that eating “butete” is safe.
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