AMID ONLINE BACKLASH Manila SK Federation clarifies Thailand trip

The Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) Federation of Manila on Friday, September 12, has defended its recent capacity-building and benchmarking activity in Bangkok, Thailand, saying the program was part of leadership training mandated by law.

- 

In a clarificatory statement, the SK explained that while participation in the program was "voluntary," the inclusion of capacity development activities in youth development and investment plans is "explicitly required" under the SK Reform Act (Republic Act 10742), as amended by RA 11768.

"To harmonize these seemingly opposing concepts, it may be stated that the choice of training design and individual participation is voluntary, but the inclusion of capacity development activities in the CBYDP (Comprehensive Barangay Youth Development Plan) and ABYIP (Annual Barangay Youth Investment Program) is mandatory, as explicitly required by law," the SK said.

The federation said 667 of the city's 896 SK chairpersons joined the September training, which included seminars, institutional learning and planning sessions with Thai partner institutions.