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1987: The Royal Batch
1987: The Royal Batch
In 1987 from September 14 to November 27, the Filipino delegates to the 14th Ship for Southeast Asian Youth Program or now known as the Ship for Southeast Asian and Japanese Youth Program (SSEAYP) experienced their journey of a lifetime. Starting off with their pre-departure training and culminating to the start of their voyage on October 9. The 34 delegates (unfortunately one wasn’t able to join during the departure) were broken down into 7 Solid Groups (A–G) and gave it their best-- participating in all the activities on board or during the country programs as they dock in their ports of call from Jakarta, Semarang, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Bangkok, Bandar Seri Begawan, Manila and Tokyo.
Dubbed the Royal Batch not only because it counts HRH Princess Kiko of Japan among its illustrious members but also because it has royalties in at least 3 other country contingents. For the Philippines, it is Salahuddin Lucman who is part of the Royal House of Maguindanao. Anak Agung Sagung from Indonesia who is the daughter of Agung of Bali and a nephew of the Sultan of Brunei Darussalam.
14th SSEAYP with National Leader Edna Amor Bello, Youth Leader Telibert Laoc, and Assistant Youth Leader Babette Ofreneo.
The adventure begun during the pre-departure training of the Philippine delegation at the Benitez Memorial Center of the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City. Prior to this, a smaller group consisting of people living or working in Metro Manila have done some preparatory work meeting initially at the National Life Insurance office along Ayala Avenue, Makati and also did all the training and pre-work at the house of Ms. Alice Cabahug in Dasmarinas Village, Makati where they learned the songs and dances with tutor, Mrs. Serrano. The training/team-building exercises were led by the Chairperson, Ms. Yvette Ledesma and Ms. Miel Reyes of the National Organizing Committee. The team-building was conducted by Ms. Titol and Ms. Milalin Javellana.
The details of our day-to-day activities are captured in a logbook we made from the start of our training down to that final day as we bid each other good bye at Narita Airport. The link to our logbook is found below in the Batch Gallery.
Looking back at the almost 40 years after and doing many reunions in between, this page will for sure spark conversation and more reminiscing. It is a wonder that a million stories have cropped up and continues to surface as people share experiences from many points of view.
Below is our 25th Year Anniversary eBook published in 2012. It speaks of how we were back then, and what pursuits we had.
Joey C. Santos
SSEAYP 1987
BATCH GALLERY
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