PALAWAN – The six-day Scout Journalism Skills Training (SJST) dubbed as #Kamalayaan2022 successfully ended on January 30, 2022, with 50 graduates who will form the editorial board of the Amateur Media Association of Philippine Scouts (AMAPS) official publication.
The activity was hosted by AMAPS and was conducted to upskill the journalism talents of their members and discuss various social issues like the spread of fake news especially in social media where the youth spend most of their free time with.
Boy Scouts of the Philippines National President Dale B. Corvera and Secretary-General Rogelio S. Villa Jr. were also present as guests of honors during the opening of the event on January 15.
Corvera and Villa both expressed their support for the training and called for Scouts to be responsible and fair journalists and do their best to fight the spread of misinformation.
“In this time when fake news is rampant, and Marites’ among our people could easily spread tsismis around, we need journalists to lead in bringing about order in the sharing of information,” said Corvera.
“This training will give [an] opportunity to Scouts to heighten their skills and talents in writing and to impress upon then the importance of good and responsible journalism,” said Villa.
The training involved various technical and social discussions including Introduction to Journalism, Ethics and Principles, Role of the Youth in Nation-Building, and more.
No Scouting activity is complete with socialization and team-building activities. On the 5th night of the training, participants and the staff celebrated the success of the training with a ‘70’s themed socials night with fellowship dinner and the first-ever Mx. Kamalayaan.
Shanley Canon, a Scout from Barangay Coro-Coro Scouting unit was crowned as Mx. Kamalayaan 2022.
The training was also designed to transform the Scouts into fact-checkers and advocates of the truth. This was in line with their commitment to the broad alliance of fact-checkers “FactsFirstPH” which was launched on January 26.
“As Scouts, we cannot just sit tight while there is a systemic spread of misinformation that attacks our democracy. It is our duty to our nation, to other people, and to ourselves to not let these lies win. Trustworthiness and honesty are some of the pillars of the Scouting movement,” AMAPS President Win Sharm Cinco said in a statement.
This was reiterated during the closing ceremony when the participants were challenged to write for the truth and help in fighting misinformation. Cinco’s deputy Chelsea San Juan accepted the challenge and called on her fellows to continue in writing for the better and contribute to preserving press freedom.
One of the participants, Tarlac Council Scout Representative Samantha Jauco shared her experience of the Kamalayaan as she also asked her fellow to do everything in their honor to stand by Jose Rizal’s famous quote that says the youth is the hope of our nation.
“I have gone through years of training, discussions, and lectures but Kamalayaan gave me the opportunity to experiment out of my comfort zone. To dabble into different writing styles and categories that I never really bothered to try.” Jauco said.
The training was formally closed by AMAPS Executive Director Dominique Doarte Gapayao.
“[…] Whenever, we try to spread truth, we must remember to be truthful more with ourselves. It is difficult to spread the truth and deep inside we live in lies,” Gapayao said in his speech.
The event was attended by at least 15 speakers coming from different news organizations and campus publications. Kamalayaan is an annual undertaking of AMAPS to help every Scout-journalist broaden their experience and improve their writing skills.
