Speech of President Garcia on the Boy Scout of the Philippines Foundation Day,

October 31, 1957 at the BSP Building

October 31, 1957

PRESIDENT GARCIAS SPEECH ON THE BOY SCOUT OF THE PHILIPPINES

FOUNDATION DAY, OCTOBER 31, 1957 AT THE BSP BUILDING
FELLOW SCOUTERS,
MY FRIENDS:
WE are gathered here today to celebrate the twenty-first anniversary of the
Boy Scouts of the Philippines. It is a momentous day for you as it is for me,
your Honorary President, considering that the approval of Commonwealth Act
No. Ill on October 31, 1936, marked a new era for Scouting in this country.
With the independence of local Scouting we have attained an enviable
position in the Scouting world today. Our membership has placed us among
the five biggest National Scout Associations and our leaders, volunteer and
professional, have brought prestige and glory to our nation and organization.
The eyes of Scouts and Scouters all over the world are focused on the
Philippines especially because about two years from now, ours will be the
privilege and honor of welcoming our brothers from overseas when they
come over for the Tenth World Jamboree which will be held in Fort McKinley.
To an individual, the first twenty-one years of life are a period of preparation
for his role in the adult world. He goes through a long and arduous training
and apprenticeship to the end that he may be fully prepared to play his part
as a participating citizen when he attains the age of majority. The state, the
home, the church, and the school pool their resources together to insure
thoroughness in the training. Other agencies in the community like the Boy
Scouts, the Jaycees, the Lions, and the Rotary Clubs supplement and
complement this training to enrich the entire program and make it
interesting and attractive to the boys. How well a boy responds to this
program, determines the kind of man he will be.
In like manner, the local Scout organization has just completed its period of
apprenticeship as an independent National Scout Association. It has
weathered the storm and the stress of the years and has emerged
triumphant over the trials and tribulations of the growing-up process. It has
gone through the period with care and decision, and now it stands among its
fellow Associations with a stature that commands respect. It behooves all
Filipinos, irrespective of whether or not they are affiliated with Scouting, to
extend active support to the movement so that its prestige will be
maintained to the everlasting glory of our country and people. It is also
incumbent upon us who belong to the local Scouting ranks to continue
forging ahead so that our contribution to the building of our nation will be
more substantial and thus more attractive of public support. Every day
should be a challenge for all of us, boy and adult alike, so that we may blaze
new horizons of service for the Philippines and for Scouting.
Scouting plays an important role in every civilized community today. Besides
its efficacy as a program for character building, it is an effective antidote to
juvenile delinquency. At a time like today when the names of teenage gangs

are crudely painted on immaculate walls of buildings, gardens, and other

structures and broken window and counter panes, mutely attesting to the
recurrence of juvenile crimes, such a program as Scouting assumes greater
significance. It is an accepted fact that in communities where Scouting is a
vital force in the lives of local boys there is no delinquency among young
people. By this token, it becomes imperative for communities with serious
teenage problems to incorporate Scouting in their program for combating
juvenile crimes. And we who are actually in the movement and realize how
much Scouting can do for boys, must exert every effort to bring Scouting into
the lives of problem boys. Besides doing our bit to solve a social problem, we
shall be doing our traditional Good Turn by sharing the benefits we derive
from Scouting with others not so providentially fortunate.
Let us also push the frontiers of the movement beyond its present confines.
Let us go to the barrios and the settlements in the hinterlands and make our
program available to boys in the rural and other less-fortunate areas. There
is need for a program like ours to enrich the lonely and drab lives of the boys
in these places. In this way, our farm boys will develop greater appreciation
for farm life and its opportunities for carrying out our program in a natural
settingthe wide, open spaces. The extension of Scouting to these places
will perhaps help check the unhealthy tendency of most farm boys to desert
their homes and go to cities and other population centers when they grow
up. For such a thing to come to pass will mean greater economic stability
and prosperity for our country and people. And that will be one lasting
contribution that we can leave for the coming generations of Filipinos.
On the international level, we also have an important part to play. A little
over two months ago, I formally invited, in your behalf, the International
Scout Conference to hold the Tenth World Jamboree here in 1959, and it
pleases me to know that at the conference in Cambridge, England, last
August, that invitation was overwhelmingly accepted.
The selection of the Philippines as the site of one of the most important
international Scouting events, at which is expected an attendance of no less
than 30,000 Scouts and Scouters from all over the free world, was by no
means due to luck or to mechinations behind the lines before and during the
last International Conference. It was really an official recognition of our
performance in the last twenty-one years. It was an accolade bestowed on
us, a tribute to the vision of the founders of our organization and the zealous
and dedicated labors of our volunteer and professional manpower during the
period.
Our achievements have attracted the attention of our brothers Scouts and
Scouters from overseas. Those in Far Eastern countries, especially, look up to
us for guidance and leadership. It is our moral obligation, therefore, to
accelerate our present pace so that we may maintain this interest and live
up to the expectations of our brothers in other lands.
As your Honorary President, I share in the pride and happiness that todays
celebration has brought on all of you. I commend the founders, the volunteer
and professional forces, the Scouts for whom we are dedicating our efforts

and labors, and the entire Filipino people who have unstintedly extended
assistance and support to us as we strive to insure for our country, in the
days to come, a citizenry that will be physically strong, mentally awake, and
morally straight.
May the succeeding years be even more glorious ones for the Philippines and
for local Scouting, so that Scout training may always be the privilege of
every Filipino boy and an important part of our way of life.
Source: University of the Philippines College of Law Library