St. Jonvic’s Glass Pulpit: The DILG Secretary Preaches Accountability While the SK Burns

“Standardized” 20% kickbacks, forged signatures, and ghost projects: welcome to the SK, where Congress trains its next generation.

By Louis ‘Barok’ C. Biraogo — August 3, 2026

SO there he stood, Secretary Jonvic Remulla, at De La Salle University, delivering what can only be described as the Sermon on the Mount of Accountability. “You must make us hear your voice,” he thundered. “You must make us feel that, or nothing will change.”

Let us give the man his due. Secretary Remulla has a record that distinguishes him from the caricature of the indolent bureaucrat. Cavite became the country’s first ISO-certified provincial government under his watch. His livestreaming of Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) public bidding reportedly saved ₱100 million on 224 vehicles, aligning with Section 3(a) of Republic Act No. 9184 (Government Procurement Reform Act)‘s transparency mandate. He has referred 45 Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) officials to the Ombudsman over anomalous fire-truck procurement. He has resisted budget insertions—₱8 billion for Philippine National Police (PNP) rifles and ₱500 million traced to fugitive former Representative Zaldy Co. His call for youth participation is constitutionally grounded in Article II, Section 13 of the 1987 Constitution. These are tangible achievements. The man has earned his applause lines.

Now, with that acknowledgment dispensed, let us examine the theater in which he performed. Because the sermon, however well-delivered, was preached from a glass pulpit—and the congregation would do well to examine the structure beneath the preacher’s feet.

***“20% Standardized Holiness: Where Youth Leaders Learn From Congress”***

Congress: Architect of Impunity

Now, let’s turn the scalpel toward Congress, that august body of landlords, entertainers, and hereditary politicians who have, for thirty-nine years, refused to define “political dynasty” as Article II, Section 26 of the Constitution commands. The Supreme Court, in Biraogo v. COMELEC (2013), ruled this provision non-self-executing—requiring enabling legislation that Congress has studiously murdered anti-dynasty bills in committee across successive Congresses for nearly four decades. House Bill 8389, the so-called Anti-Political Dynasty Act, finally limped out of the House—not as a genuine prohibition, but as a carefully diluted measure principally authored by dynasts themselves, including Majority Leader Sandro Marcos. After decades of quiet sabotage, the chamber at last produced a bill weak enough that even the dynasties could safely vote for it.

Congress is not merely complicit in the accountability deficit Remulla decries. Congress is the principal architect. The budget insertion architecture Remulla navigates—off-NEP allocations engineered through legislative amendment—is not a bug. It’s the family recipe, passed down through generations of pork. The Supreme Court dismantled the post-enactment pork barrel in Belgica v. Ochoa (2013) and Araullo v. Aquino III (2014). Congress simply moved the insertions to the pre-enactment phase. The accountability gap is structurally identical.

The Sangguniang Kabataan: Standardized Graft, Generationally Transmitted

Now we arrive at the most exquisite irony of Remulla’s sermon: his call for youth accountability lands in the same season his department suspended two Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) chairpersons from Makati’s wealthiest barangays for corruption that would make a congressman blush.

Natalia Georgianna Tupaz of Dasmariñas demanded a 20% kickback from a caterer and submitted an SK resolution with a falsified signature. Cecilia Louise Yabut of Magallanes forged signatures, including that of an SK Kagawad who was in Canada at the time. DILG announced charges for direct bribery under Article 210 of the Revised Penal Code, Section 3(b) of Republic Act No. 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act), and falsification under Articles 171-172.

But here is the detail that should curdle every taxpayer’s blood: Tupaz described the 20% commission as “standardized.”

Standardized. This is not an aberration. It is the institutionalization of graft at the most granular level of Philippine governance—a fractal reproduction of the corruption plaguing the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and BFP. The Supreme Court, in Vener Collao v. People (G.R. No. 242539), affirmed the conviction of a barangay chairman for a 30% kickback, establishing the elements of Section 3(b) with clinical precision. The doctrine is settled. Yet in thousands of barangays, these violations occur with metronomic regularity.

Why? Because the SK is a miniature replica of the national patronage system. A 2013 MSU-Iligan study found older, corrupt barangay officials “passed on the techniques of corruption to the young leader informants.” The mechanism is a conveyor belt:

The SK Reform Act of 2015 (Republic Act No. 10742) attempted reform with an anti-dynasty provision (Section 8), fiscal autonomy, and mandatory training. An Ateneo study found it reduced dynastic incidence by 0.4% in Cebu City, 2.5% in Davao City, and 7% in Quezon City. These are not outcomes. These are rounding errors.

The structural enablers are thoroughly documented. DILG exercises “general supervision” over barangays under Republic Act No. 7160 (Local Government Code of 1991), Section 61—but this is not control. DILG cannot directly suspend SK officials or veto SK budgets. It must wait for complaints to be filed, violations to become evident, local authorities to act. It is a watchdog with a muzzle, constrained by the very local autonomy Article X, Section 4 of the Constitution guarantees.

The 10% barangay fund allocation, the honoraria under Republic Act No. 11768, the procurement authority under RA 9184—these are not tools for youth empowerment. They are bait. Training wheels for a lifetime of public plunder, greased by the “standardized” commissions contractors build into their bids.

The BFP and PNP: Remulla’s Own Accountability Deficit

DILG’s own record undercuts claims of successful reform. Three procurement scandals in a single bureau in twelve months—anomalous fire-truck procurement (45 officials referred), a ₱30-million fire-extinguisher scandal, and a former chief’s alleged ₱1.5-million-per-unit kickback offer to Remulla personally—is not “curbing procurement irregularities.” It is accountability arriving—belatedly, perhaps, but arriving nonetheless—because someone finally chose to open the ledgers.

Meanwhile, the PNP’s two-year failure to execute an unsealed International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant against Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa—despite his continued public presence and Remulla’s concession that he “should have given better instructions”—raises questions under Republic Act No. 6975 as amended, the PNP’s mandate to execute lawful warrants. The Supreme Court held in Pangilinan v. Cayetano (2021) that Rome Statute withdrawal does not extinguish ICC jurisdiction over acts committed during membership. The government’s inconsistency—swift action against Duterte in March 2025, prolonged inaction against dela Rosa since May 2026—is itself an accountability question of the kind Remulla asked students to raise.

The NTF-ELCAC Paradox

At the same DLSU forum, Remulla defended NTF-ELCAC—the Duterte-era task force in which DILG plays a central role—while urging youth to question government actions. NTF-ELCAC is precisely the kind of institution that “weakens public trust” from the perspective of the activists and student leaders in his audience. The Supreme Court held in Deduro v. Vinoya (2024) that red-tagging constitutes a threat to life, liberty, or security warranting the writ of amparo. The Court has spoken. The task force continues. The secretary, who inherited this institution but chose to defend it, asks students to speak out against practices that weaken public trust.

The Call to Action

To the youth of the Philippines: You have been told to make your voice heard. So make it heard—with evidence, with law, with due process. File Freedom of Information (FOI) requests under Executive Order No. 2, s. 2016. Lodge Ombudsman complaints under Republic Act No. 6770 (The Ombudsman Act of 1989). Monitor public funds with the precision of auditors. Organize peacefully, refuse favors, hold leaders to their oath under Article XI, Section 1. Never trade integrity for the “standardized” commissions offered as the price of entry into the political class.

To Secretary Remulla: Pursue the cases against Tupaz, Yabut, and every SK official who has turned public funds into private profit. Make your office’s performance record fully transparent. Support the anti-dynasty enabling law Congress has withheld for thirty-nine years. Show that accountability is not merely a sermon but a standard you apply to yourself.

Recommendations

For Congress: Enact the enabling legislation for Article II, Section 26. Mandate disclosure of the source and sponsor of every post-NEP budget addition. Close the “elected officials only” loophole in SK anti-dynasty enforcement.

For DILG: Seek legislative amendment clarifying disciplinary authority over SK officials. Deploy a digital SK monitoring system with real-time fund tracking. Mandate the Public Financial Management Competency Program for all SK officials, not merely chairpersons.

For the youth: Run for SK with clean hands. Refuse the kickbacks. Expose the contractors who offer them. The system will not reform itself—it must be reformed by those who refuse to inherit its corruptions.

Conclusion

The Philippines drowns in accountability rhetoric while starving for accountability practice. What the youth must supply is the relentless application of law to power—Section 3(e) of RA 3019 to every official who causes undue injury, Article 171 of the Revised Penal Code against every falsified document, the doctrine of Deduro v. Vinoya against every agency that red-tags citizens into silence.

A better Philippines is possible. One where public service is not a family business but a sacred trust. Where the youth inherit not “standardized” corruption but a democracy worthy of the name. That Philippines will not be gifted by secretaries or dynasts. It will be built by citizens who refuse to accept the gap between rhetoric and reality as the natural order of things.

Make them hear your voice. But ensure your voice is backed by evidence, by law, and by the conviction that those who preach accountability must be the first to live it.

Louis ‘Barok’ C. Biraogo is the legal-political analyst behind Kweba ni Barok, where the law is a scalpel applied to the body politic.

Key Citations

A. Legal & Official Sources

The 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines. Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines, 1987, http://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/constitutions/1987-constitution/.
Philippines, House of Representatives. Anti-Political Dynasty Act. House Bill No. 8389, 20th Cong., 2026, docs.congress.hrep.online/legisdocs/third_20/HBT8389.pdf.
Republic Act No. 9184. An Act Providing for the Modernization, Standardization and Regulation of the Procurement Activities of the Government and for Other Purposes. 2003, lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra2003/ra_9184_2003.html.
Republic Act No. 3019. Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. 1960, lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra1960/ra_3019_1960.html.
Republic Act No. 10742. An Act Establishing Reforms in the Sangguniang Kabataan Creating Enabling Mechanisms for Meaningful Youth Participation in Nation-Building, and for Other Purposes. 2016, http://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2016/01/15/republic-act-no-10742/.
Republic Act No. 7160. An Act Providing for a Local Government Code of 1991. 1991, lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra1991/ra_7160_1991.html.
Republic Act No. 11768. An Act Strengthening the Sangguniang Kabataan, Institutionalizing Additional Reforms to Revitalize Youth Participation in Local Governance and by Providing Honorarium, Other Benefits, and Privileges. 2022, http://www.lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra2022/ra_11768_2022.html.
Republic Act No. 6975. An Act Establishing the Philippine National Police under a Reorganized Department of the Interior and Local Government, and for Other Purposes. 1990, lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra1990/ra_6975_1990.html.
Republic Act No. 6770. An Act Providing for the Functional and Structural Organization of the Office of the Ombudsman, and for Other Purposes. 1989, lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra1989/ra_6770_1989.html.
Executive Order No. 2, s. 2016. Operationalizing in the Executive Branch the People’s Constitutional Right to Information and the State Policies to Full Public Disclosure and Transparency in the Public Service and Providing Guidelines Therefor. 2016, http://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2016/07/23/executive-order-no-2-s-2016/.
Belgica v. Ochoa, G.R. No. 208566. Supreme Court of the Philippines, 19 Nov. 2013, lawphil.net/judjuris/juri2013/nov2013/gr_208566_2013.html.
Araullo v. Aquino III, G.R. No. 209287. Supreme Court of the Philippines, 1 July 2014, lawphil.net/judjuris/juri2014/jul2014/gr_209287_2014.html.
Collao v. People, G.R. No. 242539. Supreme Court of the Philippines, 1 Feb. 2021, lawphil.net/judjuris/juri2021/feb2021/gr_242539_2021.html.
Pangilinan v. Cayetano, G.R. No. 238875. Supreme Court of the Philippines, 16 Mar. 2021, lawphil.net/judjuris/juri2021/mar2021/gr_238875_2021.html.
Deduro v. Vinoya, G.R. No. 254753. Supreme Court of the Philippines, 4 July 2023, lawphil.net/judjuris/juri2023/jul2023/gr_254753_2023.html.
Biraogo v. COMELEC, G.R. No. 203603. Supreme Court of the Philippines, 2013, http://www.digest.ph/decisions/biraogo-v-commission-on-elections.

B. News Reports

Caliwan, Christopher Lloyd. “DILG Chief Urges Youth for Fight for Accountability, Protect Democracy.” Philippine News Agency, 31 July 2026, http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1280806.
“SK Chairpersons of Rich Makati Villages Suspended over Alleged Corruption.” Rappler, 27 Apr. 2026, http://www.rappler.com/philippines/metro-manila/makati-sk-chairpersons-suspension-alleged-corruption-falsification-april-2026.
“DILG: Kickbacks, Forgery for SK Projects ‘Standard’ in 2 Makati Villages.” Philippine Daily Inquirer, 27 Apr. 2026, newsinfo.inquirer.net/2219219/dilg-kickbacks-forgery-for-sk-projects-standard-in-2-makati-villages.
“2 SK Chairs Suspended for Misconduct – DILG.” Philippine Daily Inquirer, 28 Apr. 2026, newsinfo.inquirer.net/2219307/2-sk-chairs-suspended-for-misconduct-dilg.
“DILG to File Criminal Charges vs Makati SK Chairs over Kickbacks, Forged Signatures.” Daily Tribune, 27 Apr. 2026, tribune.net.ph/2026/04/27/dilg-to-file-criminal-charges-vs-makati-sk-chairs-over-kickbacks-forged-signatures.
Ponce, Sulpecia L., et al. “Corruption Practices Among Young Elective Public Officials (Sanggunian Kabataan) in Iligan City, Southern Philippines.” Journal of Government and Politics, vol. 4, no. 2, Aug. 2013, pp. 254–69, jsp.umy.ac.id/index.php/jsp/article/view/267.
Flores, Leon G., III, et al. “Advancing Youth Governance in the Philippines: A Narrative of the Sangguniang Kabataan and Its Road to Reform.” SSRN, 4 Feb. 2021, papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3779023.
Abanto, Rowegie. “Remulla Says He Was ‘Remiss’ in Dela Rosa Arrest Try: ‘I Should Have Given Better Instructions’.” ABS-CBN News, 26 June 2026, http://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/6/26/remulla-admits-he-was-remiss-in-arresting-dela-rosa-1429.