A Sangguniang Kabataan council in a barangay in Taguig gave self-defense kits, including taser flashlights, to young women as protection against crimes.

The Sangguniang Kabataan in Barangay San Miguel chose 40 young women as recipients of its self-defense kits.

Each kit contains a taser flashlight pepper spray, multi-functional self-defense card, and a whistle.

In a Facebook post, the SK San Miguel said, “Nitong mga nagdaang linggo, dumarami ang ulat ukol sa mga nawawalang kabataan, partikular na ang mga kababaihang nadarakip, pinapaslang, o patuloy na nawawala (In the past week, reports have been increasing about missing youth, particularly women who were forcibly taken, slain, or continue to be missing).”

“Bunsod nito, layunin ng konseho ng Sangguniang Kabataan ng San Miguel ang tumugon sa amba ng panganib, karahasan, at anumang emergency situation (Because of this, the goal of the council of the Sangguniang Kabataan in San Miguel is to address the threat of danger, violence, and any emergency situation),” it added.

It said the recipients of the self-defense kit should be women from 18 to 30 years old who, are residents of the barangay, and working students or night shift workers.

In an interview with Manila Bulletin, Barangay San Miguel SK Chairman Matthew Cruz said the idea to give self-defense kits came out of concern for the youth.

“Since nakikita namin sa news na maraming nawawala at parang kailangan na merong kahit papaano na may maibigay kami sa mga kabataang kababaihan na pang-defense nila sa sarili nila (Since we’ve seen in the news that many are missing and perhaps we can at least give something to young women to use as defense for themselves),” he said.

Cruz said they increased the number of recipients from 30 to 40, and expanded the scope to include students. He said the project got the support of their barangay chairman.

They are planning to give another batch of self-defense kits to young women in their barangay.