SNPP and SCAP Join an International Learning Exchange, Represent the Philippines in Coachi, Colombia

Three organizations from the Philippines are represented in an international learning exchange on ‘Social Organizations and Democratic Futures in the Global South’ in Coachi, Colombia.

Held on September 1-5, 2025 in Choachi, Colombia, the event saw the participation of the Samahan ng Nagkakaisang Pamilyang Pantawid (SNPP | Association of United Families of Conditional Cash Transfer Beneficiaries) and the Student Council Alliance of the Philippines (SCAP).

With more than 70,000 members across the Philippines, SNPP is a broad-based organization of beneficiaries of the largest poverty reduction program in the country—the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) or the Philippine Conditional Cash Transfer program. It is also the only known organization of conditional cash transfer (CCT) beneficiaries in the world.

SNPP was represented by its President, Annabelle Luna, who shared their inspiring stories of successfully campaigning for the passage of the law that institutionalizes 4Ps. She further narrated the campaign that they launched to defend the program from the threat of delisting, which prompted the government to declare a moratorium.

SCAP, on the other hand, is the largest student formation in the Philippines, representing more than 300 student councils and unions across the country.

Represented by its Secretary General, Matthew Silverio, SCAP shared its variety of methods to advance students’ rights and youth empowerment, including the use of digital technology as well as its close engagement with a progressive political party in the Philippines.

Both SNPP and SCAP are part of G-Watch’s health organizing initiative called PRO-Health, which G-Watch convenor-director Joy Aceron featured in her introductory remarks and input presentation on the experience of broad-based organizations in the Philippines in getting governments to deliver to the excluded. Joy Aceron serves as one of the co-convenors of the learning exchange series.  

It's Annabelle and Matthew's first time to travel outside the country and attend an international learning exchange, crossing three great bodies of water to reach Colombia—the West Philippine Sea, the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. They are joined by Francis Isaac of G-Watch, who serves as the Filipino interpreter/ research assistant to the said ARC learning exchange series.

The international learning exchange was co-convened by Accountability Research Center (ARC), Government Watch (G-Watch) and three other prominent organizations and was attended by 32 participants from 13 countries, featuring seven major languages. It aims to provide a platform for cross-country learning of broad-based social organizations on powershifting and people-powered strategies for change.