QuestionsQuestions (EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 24)
Executive Order No. 24 cites Section 10(o) of R.A. 8044 (Youth in Nation-Building Act) as the basis for training and a national secretariat for the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) National Federation pursuant to R.A. 7160 (Local Government Code), and also notes the NYC’s mandate under R.A. 8044 to formulate the ISKOLAR Program.
The ISKOLAR Program is a capability-building scheme aimed to provide technical guidance for the educational, leadership, advocacy, and legislative needs of current and future SK officials from national down to local levels.
They are: (1) provide SK officials with skills and knowledge to become more effective, efficient, and responsive leaders; (2) strengthen moral values consistent with the four pillars (Maka-Diyos, Maka-Tao, Maka-Bayan, Maka-Kalikasan) and principle-centered leadership and development politics; (3) assist SK leaders in formulating local youth agenda and a plan of action consistent with the Medium Term Youth Development Plan and subsequent plans; and (4) develop SK leaders into self-reliant, dynamic, and creative community leaders and agents of change.
Section 2 creates the Integrated Sangguniang Kabataan Organizational Leadership and Reorientation (ISKOLAR) Program Executive Committee, referred to as the “EXECOM.”
The Secretary of Interior and Local Government is the Chairman; the Chairperson of the National Youth Commission (NYC) is the Co-Chairperson.
They are: Commission on Higher Education; Commission on Human Rights; Dangerous Drugs Board; Department of Environment and Natural Resources; Local Government Academy; National Disaster and Coordinating Council; National Movement of Young Legislators; and University Center Foundation.
They are: (a) oversee implementation and ensure success of the Program; (b) serve as policy-making and implementing body; (c) call upon any government department/agency for necessary assistance and support; and (d) perform other functions assigned by the President.
Section 5 provides that members of the EXECOM designate their respective ISKOLAR action officers from existing personnel (national and regional, and when applicable provincial/city/municipal). These officers act as point persons, coordinate agency modules, monitor/evaluate and report, and liaise with the Program Secretariat regarding implementation.
Section 6 directs the Chief Executive Officer of the NYC to provide a Secretariat for the ISKOLAR Program. The Secretariat provides administrative and technical support and other functions assigned by the EXECOM; the NYC also acts as the overall program coordinator.
The EXECOM may call upon government departments/bureaus/offices/agencies (including GOCCs) and may involve private sector groups and non-government organizations for technical and funding assistance. It may also enter into partnership agreements with the private sector and concerned committees of Congress, provided legal requirements and government rules (including COA rules) are complied with.
Partnerships must comply with legal requirements and government rules and regulations, including rules and regulations of the Commission on Audit (COA).
Section 8 authorizes implementing agencies to allocate funds from their respective budgets subject to auditing/accounting rules. It also allows the EXECOM to solicit private sector and foreign funding contributions subject to COA, BIR, and BSP rules and legal requirements, as necessary.
The EO states agencies “are hereby authorized to allocate funds from their respective budgets” subject to existing rules—authorization (not mandatory compulsion) is provided.
They must monitor and evaluate the program and submit reports to the EXECOM and Program Secretariat (Section 5(c)).
Section 9 provides that the executive order “shall take effect immediately.”
The EO states that SK is the most organized and pervasive youth organization nationwide and thus a viable group for government to initiate and provide skills and leadership training incorporating values education.