Negros SK hits local feds over 'costly' travels

DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines — The Sangguniang Kabataan-Negros Oriental provincial federation has complained over the appropriateness of spending so much on supposed fellowships held by local federations in out-of-town expensive resorts.

SK provincial federation president Scott Wayne Husain, in his letter to DILG provincial director Jofralito Lorico, said he received reports of SK municipal and city federations attending seminars and workshops outside their areas of jurisdiction.

This practice contradicted DILG's Memorandum Circular 2011-59, which "was conceptualized to stop the costly local government-organized or funded training, seminar, workshop," Husain said in his letter, a copy of which was obtained exclusively by The FREEMAN.

Husain said subsequent inquiries on the matter noted that the seminars and workshops were organized by the DILG's Local Government Operations Officers (LGOOs) themselves, with the claims that local fed chairpersons "have no knowledge on how to organize such an event."

This prompted Husain to request Lorico to dig the matter further with the LGOOs of the towns of Manjuyod and San Jose who allegedly insisted on conducting these seminars despite the DILG directive.

Lorico, however, said that an inquiry done on Manjuyod's SK Federation found out that the seminar was initiated by the Office of the Mayor through municipal administrator Jose Petit Baldado, a former governor.

Baldado confirmed these findings and told The FREEMAN that it was the mayor herself who requested the town's LGOO to plan the activity to educate the young leaders on proper waste management and other environmental concerns.

For the past years the Green Brigade Program of SK-Manjuyod has been reduced to cleaning the streets only, and for this reason the LGU decided to make better use of the budget by using it to educate young leaders to be responsive to environmental issues, said Baldado.

Baldado clarified that choosing a venue in Dumaguete City was based on a canvass of prices done earlier. The chosen venue was more practical and cheaper because, besides being isolated, allowed the participants to stay and take part in the seminar.

If the DILG chose a venue right in Manjuyod, the participants would have been spending their time with friends or going to their homes or other familiar places during breaks or while the seminar was going on.

As for the SK Federation of San Jose town, Lorico said an inquiry is still being conducted and until the LGOO is able to explain her side, no conclusions can be made yet.

Last May 27 and 28, San Jose's SK Federation members went to one of the province's most expensive resort for a two-day seminar.

As of press time, the SK-San Jose president or its LGOO could not be reached for comment on the issue yet. (FREEMAN)