A LAWMAKER here pushed for a measure requesting the Office of the City Mayor to require official clearance before accepting any resignation of any elective Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) official.
During the regular session on Tuesday, Councilor Arnulfo Cabling, committee chair on Ethics and Good Governance, raised concerns that some local youth officials are resigning to evade pending administrative or criminal liabilities.
“We passed a resolution asking the city mayor before aksyonan ang resignation nila. Maghingi muna ng clearance sa committee ethics and good governance,” Cabling told reporters in a sideline interview.
Under the proposed policy, the Office of the City Mayor will be urged to secure proper clearance from the SP Secretary or the committee on ethics and good governance to check for any unsettled complaints or active cases before acting on any tender of resignation.
“Some of these are actually just thinking that by resigning they have escaped administrative or even criminal liability,” Cabling said.
Cabling reported there are two SK officials who resigned out of eight officials facing cases.
He added that one of the officials who resigned did not report to COA.
“Yung COA, observation lang naman yun, may solution yun, wala pa namang sinasabi talaga na may obligation ka na, so harapin mo lang,” he said.
The councilor stressed that accountability remains for resigning officials if alleged infractions or misuse of public funds are proven.
He added that these SK officials might also face disqualification from running for any public office, elective or appointive, in the future.
The committee urged remediation, with the officials facing complaints, to give them a chance to correct their errors rather than be punished.