As the election for the Provincial Federated Sangguniang Kabataan nears, the handlers of the Federated SK candidates are jockeying their wards for the most favored position at the starting gate. Meanwhile some members of the Provincial Councilors League threatened to revolt if the daughter of Brigido "Boy" Imboy, president of the PCL is made to run as a candidate for president of the Federation. Some of the PCL sees that the fielding of the daughter is a preparation of her mother, May Lim Imboy, the wife of Boy for her candidacy as governor in 2010.

The serious contender for the Federated SK post is Jane Cajes, the daughter of Rep. Roberto Cajes and Trinidad Mayor Judith del Rosario Cajers. Jane is the sister of the outgoing Federated SK president. This contest would be interesting. Loay Municipal Councilor and PCL president and his wife Loay Mayor are pitting their daughter against the daughter of Second District Representative and Trinidad Mayor Fur is expected to fly and money will flow.

It seems that Boy Imboy had done something to earn the ire of some PCL members. They are not from the camp of Rep. Roberto Cajes and neither do they favor any candidate. Those whose toes Imboy had stepped on are looking for ways to get back at him. Or they might have a political agenda of their own, which does not jive with plans of the Imboy couple.

There is no reason why this post will not be hotly contested. This has an ex officio status in the Provincial Board. That means the holder of this office will have all the benefits and perks of a duly elected Provincial Board Member. And this will be attained at the least cost. All one does is to get the majority votes of the Municipal SKs, which number around forty.

Except for furthering the political agenda of the elders, of what good is an SK post? The Barangay SKs sitting as barangay kagawads are good only for basketball tournaments and discos. Nothing has been heard of the Municipal SK with rank equivalent to municipal kagawads. As for the Provincial SKs, we in the boondocks are not aware of what they are doing. If there is news about them, they are only in the society pages. The SK is recruited from the teens barely out of secondary schools. The idealistic and impressionable are taken away from their studies to be cast into the dog eat dog environment of Philippine politics.

When President Ferdinand Marcos created the Samahang Kabataan, the forerunner of the SK, he must have taken the idea from Adolf Hitler. Young Germans were made to join the Hitler Youth. They were made to live in camps for sometime and educated - read indoctrinated - there. Most of them joined the dreaded SS when they grew older. The SS were Hitler' personal army to counterbalance the Wermacht, the German regular army.

Vote buying had been noticed in Barangay SK elections. Minors are buying votes from minors. Barangay SK candidates buy votes at least ten pesos each. Some shell out a hundred. Then in the municipal SK elections, there are rumors that a vote is worth ten grand and a cellphone. How much would be a vote for a keenly contested Provincial SK post worth would be anybody's guess. That might be considerable. Anyway, any candidate buying his way into office is sure of a handsome return for his investment as long as he finishes his term.

Talk about representative democracy. This game is only for the rich and the powerful. Philippine politics, at any level has a lot to be desired. Vote buying, character assassinations, horse-trading and cheating are found at all levels. To expose our impressionable young to such a climate might destroy their sense of values and their idealism. Here, they start them young.