Comelec to require SK candidates to show proofs they have no relatives up to 2nd degree of consanguinity in public office

The COMELEC main office located at the Palacio del Gobernador at the corner of General Luna St. and Andres Soriano Jr. Avenue in Intramuros, Manila. (Photo courtesy of COMELEC)

MANILA—Candidates for the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections this year are likely to be asked by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to present proofs they have no relatives up to second degree of consanguinity in public office.

Comelec Chairman Juan Andres Bautista said they are planning to implement the requirement during the filing of the Certificate of Candidacy (CoC) prior to the SK polls which is set on Oct. 31.

“So, ang nakikita naming gagawin doon sa CoC, kung ikaw ay tatakbo, kailangan mong i-present na wala kang kamag-anak up to the second degree of consanguinity,” he said in an earlier interview.

Under Republic Act No. 10742 or the SK Reform Act of 2015, a candidate for SK should not be related within the second degree of consanguinity or affinity to any incumbent, elected national official; or to any incumbent regional, provincial, city, municipal, or barangay official, in the locality where he/she seeks to be elected.

“Ang hindi pwedeng tumakbo ay ‘yung mga may kamag-anak up to the second degree of consanguinity. Ibig sabihin nito, halimbawa ang lolo ay konsehal ‘yung apo niya hindi pwedeng tumakbo, ‘yung anak, hindi din pwede, magkapatid, hindi din pwede, pero halimbawa, first cousin, pwede na yun kasi fourth degree na,” Bautista explained.

The filing of the CoC for the youth polls will be from Oct. 3 to 5.

Qualifications for SK candidates include being a citizen of the Philippines; a registered SK voter; a resident of the barangay for not less than one year immediately preceding the day of the elections; at least 18 years but not more than 24 years of age on the day of the elections; able to read and write Filipino, English, or the local dialect.

Voters aged 15 to 30 years will be electing the officials of the SK, which is composed of one chairperson and seven members for their barangay.