After having been educated at Charterhouse School, Baden-Powell served in the British Army from 1876 until 1910 in India and Africa. In 1899, during the Second Boer War in South Africa, Baden-Powell successfully defended the town in the Siege of Mafeking. Several of his military books, written for military reconnaissance and scout training in his African years, were also read by boys. Based on those earlier books, he wrote Scouting for Boys, published in 1908 by Sir Arthur Pearson, for youth readership. During writing, he tested his ideas through a camping trip on Brownsea Island with the local Boys’ Brigade and sons of his friends that began on 1 August 1907, which is now seen as the beginning of Scouting.

After his marriage to Olave St Clair Soames, Baden-Powell, his sister Agnes Baden-Powell and notably his wife actively gave guidance to the Scouting Movement and the Girl Guides Movement. Baden-Powell lived his last years in Nyeri, Kenya, where he died and was buried in 1941.

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Member Emeritus

National Executive Board

 (Remarks made at the launching of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines 75th anniversary coffee table book on January 26, 2012 at the office of the Vice President (OVP), Coconut Palace, Manila.)

First of all, let me point out the fact, at the risk of being repetitious, that if Scouting in the Philippines has gone this far, as described in the book, on the 75^th year of the founding of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines, it is because of the vision and leadership of our National President, now the Vice President of the Philippines, the Honorable Jejomar C. Binay. The National Headquarters building on the cover, as well as the ongoing construction of a major business center in Makati, are a monument to the effective utilization of our long dormant resources under his initiative and guidance. Let us give the Vice President a big round of applause.

The BSP is acquiring a new look, and every Scout should be proud of it hopefully through this book. Go to Malugay Street in Makati today and you will find the BSP logo at the corner of a huge construction site near the corner of Ayala Avenue and Gil Puyat Avenue. We are going to be part of a new landmark right in the center of business activity in the country’s financial capital.

I ‘am actually struggling with what else to say after having heard the editors describe the book. I think the fact that I had very little to do with this book is what makes this book important.

I speak of myself, of course, as representing the older generation of Scouts in this room. By sheers seniority I wrote and edited the 60^th or Diamond Jubilee Yearbook that came out in 1996. This time it’s different. This book, labeled Good Morning for some witty reason you will find inside, was written, as you’ve heard, by the young people who know best what Scouting is today because they went through it in a generation that is virtually changing the way we live, the digital generation.

You will appreciate this book best if you consider the generation gap that it is trying to bridge – the gap between the editors and me. This is the year 2012, the 75^th year of the BSP. I was a Boy Scout in 1946, just 10 years after the signing of the law that created the BSP.

I lived in the era of knot-tying and semaphore signaling. We did things differently but you can’t say we didn’t enjoy Scouting in our time. We took survival training seriously. Once we went camping bringing with us only rice and cooking pots. We put up tents at a river bank and went fishing and went around the villages to pick camote tops and malunggay so we had something to eat. But this was the exciting part. The rule was not to bring matches. We produced fire by friction – rubbing sticks together, which we did expertly. Many of us knew how to cook and so that was no problem. We had a campfire at night, and went to bed after taps. I was the bugler. I woke them up in the morning with another bugle call called reveille.

Fast forward to 2012. We now have a completely new generation of Scouts. They don’t go camping anymore. The authors of the book, all Outstanding Boy Scouts in their time, have captured the changes by indicating where the transition is going on. For example, gone is the Jamboree-on-the-air, this has been replaced by Jamboree-on-the-internet. And Ed Delgado, our super authority on anything electronic, has designed a website where merit badges can be earned by pushing buttons, a process I will never understand because this octogenarian is, hold your breath, still a digital virgin.

In a word, this book is about transition. We still have the history of Scouting and honor the pioneers, especially the Founding Fathers, but the treatment is thoroughly modern, and for good reason:  for the young people today to be attracted to Scouting we must speak to them in the language of their generation and introduce activities that would excite them. Let me ask you to join me in congratulating the author Scouts and giving them a big round of applause. To highlight the transition, they are led by an editorial committee chaired by no less than the national president of all senior citizens, Mr. Jorge L. Banal. Jorge shepherded the project from the concept stage to the printing. Let’s applaud him too.

Let me take this opportunity to express my own word of thanks to all those who have contributed to make this book a reality, including and especially those among our guests this morning who have been supporting Scouting through the years.

Thank you very much.

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Scouting has been a world-wide organization that aims to develop physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight citizens. Its mission is to widen the Scouting Spirit across all civilizations, cultures and borders. This became a major challenge to the scouters around the country, particularly the Tarlac Council.

The province of Tarlac was considered the melting pot of Central Luzon and there were still places like Sta. Juliana Elementary School, which was formerly known as Sta. Juliana Resettlement Area (was constructed during the Mt. Pinatubo eruption) which living to its mark. Most of the inhabitants in this area belong to the minority group of Aeta.  Based from some information, scouting is not yet introduced in this area, especially the Aeta tribe. The council came up with the idea of visiting the place through the District Coordinator of Capas West and this started the scouting movement in the area. The scout oath and law, and the basic ideals and principles of scouting were taught by the two scoutmasters. The smiles shown in their faces symbolize their happiness and gratitude. The Council envisions that someday, these Aeta scouts would be one of the participants of annual Council Jamborette

Now, the Aeta scouts of Sta. Juliana, Capas, Tarlac are ready to face the world of scouting.

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“We helped in the relief good distribution and dressed wounds to some victims that we are able to reach. There were five of us, myself and four senior boy scouts who stayed there. Some of the council board were with us on the 8th of February but they went home immediately. We were there on February 8 to February 12 early morning. This time, we were with NORAD 7 assisting on HumRadio Communication.” -Philambrichi Magos, Scout Executive (Negros Oriental Council)

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Binay hands over the check with five hundred thousand (P500,000.00)  to BSP Zamboanga-Sibugay Council headed by Dr. Amelia P. Torralba, Council Scout Commissioner for winning the 2^nd prize of the  BSP National Raffle held last December. The annual raffle draw aims to raise funds to support BSP’s programs and activities.

Binay hands over the check with two hundred fifty thousand (P250,000.00)  to Scout Androclaus M. Guzman of Quezon City Council  for winning the 3^rd prize of the  BSP National Raffle held last December. The annual raffle draw aims to raise funds to support BSP’s programs and activities.

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Assisting VP Binay is National Public Relations Commissioner Maximino J. Edralin, Jr. and DepEd Secretary Br. Armin A. Luistro.

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Once again the Batangas City Council Road Safety Camp was held on November 29, 2011 at Peoples Quadrangle, Batangas City.  It was participated in by 61 Boy Scouts and 121 Senior Scouts.  This event was sponsored by Pilipinas Shell Foundation Inc. as initiated by the BSP, Batangas City Council.

The opening program was capped by the presence of Mr. Arthur Sales, Director for National Scout Shop, the Representative of Atty. Wendel Avisado, Deputy Secretary General-HUDCC and Senior Vice President of the BSP.  Mr. Sales emphasized the importance of obeying traffic rules and regulations in order to preserve our life.  The presence of government officials, DepEd people, Shell Officials and BSP advocates added to the success of the affair.

The BSP Road Safety Camp aims to create awareness and shape the values of scouts on traffic regulations, safety conduct and road courtesy even at an early stage.

This activity provided simulated exercises for the scouts to further enhance values on road safety.  It followed the Road Safety Module that was developed by Pilipinas Shell Foundation Inc.

The camp included discussions, simulations and traffic games on the following areas: Road Signs and Signals, Commuter/Passenger Safety, Bike and Motorcycle Safety, General Road Conduct, Basic Concepts in Defensive Driving, Batangas City Traffic Rules and Regulations, Vehicle Permits and Licensing and Road Safety and Security.            

The participants are expected to echo and share the leanings to other scouts in information dissemination, educational deliveries and mobilization of scouts.

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Unless you are using an iOS device (i.e. iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch), Binoy recommends that you use the Barnes & Noble’s Nook E-reader app.

The Nook E-reader app is available for FREE in most devices — Android devices, PC, Mac, and even on iOS devices!

Click here to download the Nook E-reader app that is right for your device.

After downloading the Nook E-reader app on your device, install and run the application.

You will probably be asked to Sign Up for a Barnes & Noble account (or Log In if you already have one). Just go ahead. It is for FREE and you are under no obligation to purchase any book or e-book from the Barnes & Noble online store.

iBook

If you own an iOS device (e.g. iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad), then the iBook app is your natural choice for an e-reader.

If you don’t have iBook on your iOS device yet, go to AppStore and download it from there for FREE.

Adobe Digital Editions

Adobe Digital Editions is touted to be the “most open” e-book reader, meaning it can open almost any e-book format, including those with DRM (Digital Rights Management) encryption.

The only downside with ADE is that it does not offer the rich and robust features available from other e-reader applications.

Click here to download Adobe Digital Editions. It is also FREE.

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