Scouting in the Philippines (Among the Boy Scouts)

Title

Creator

Ochangco, Horacio

Year

1936

Subject

Scouts and scouting

Boy Scouts of the Philippines

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

llJan·h, J.<J.J6 THE YOUNG CITIZEN 59 AMONG TH::: BOY SCOUTS-· SCOUTING IN THE PHILIPPINES By Horacio Ochan~co' The Beginning----=-There is no exact data ~bout the first boy scout troop. Whether it was organized in the American-European y: M. C. A. at Manila or by an unknown Jesuit Father in Zamboangawhether it was organized at Boac. Marinduque by the Hon. Pedro del Mundo. is not clear. The first Troops appeared to have been organized in 191·1. Troop I, has a record of 12 years of r.egistered ::ervice during the period I 911 to 19 3 3 and is the oldest troop now in existence in the lslands. . The real pion~ers were rhos~ ~arly Scouters. Most of these Scourers, including all the members of rhe Office Staff of the present Headquarters, are stili pioneering to meet the grc'at challe~ge of providing a spare-time program of Character and Citizenship training for over 800.000 boys of Scout age in this Island. When Lord Robert Baden Powell, the Chief Scout of the World, visited the Philippines prior to the World War, there waS aroused in the hearts of the Philippine Youth conside1~ble '. int.erest in the Boy Scout movement. In 1923 the Boy .Work Corn-· rnictee of the Manila Rotary Club organized formally and enlisted .the American Legion to assist to finance the expense of a Boy Scout Headquarters. A Boy Scout Headquart'lr' (Philippine Counc1l) for th~ Philippines was establish~d and David T. Ritchie. a Warrant officer in the U. S. Army was employed as Acting Scout Executive during his spare timr. When Mr. Ritchie returned to the United St~aes Jt the end of his tour of duty, he was succeeded by Warrant Officer James Fitzpatrick. During those years, Major P. D. Carman, the first President of the Philippine Council and other Council S:outers W\?re very active in organizing troops of Boy S:outs in and around the city of Manila. Hon. Manuel Camus who is now our Scout Commissioner was the Scoutmaster of Troop 3, which was organized in the Central Student Y. M. C: A., at that time. He has served the movement faithfully and· actively ever since. Late in 1923, Major P. D.· Carman while on vacation in the United States coavinced the Na tional Executive· Board··thJi national cooperation wa<; necessary if the movement was to grow and prosper like it should. "' Man8.ger, Publicity Depal'tment, Boy Scout Headquarters, Manila. Accordingly, in January, 1 J24, Mr. F. S. M.Jciarlanc, a trained and experienced s~out Executiv~. was sent to the Philippine Isl.ands, and in 1926 while on IeavC-; brought back Messrs. Irving Wilts..: .md Joseph R. Greenan as Assistant Scou~ Execu· l~ves. Mr. Irving Wiltse, was alloted the field of _th! i:;land of Luzon with headquarters a[ Manila and Mr. Joseph R. Greenan was assigmd to th:! Visaya.1 Islands with headquarters at Cebu. Mr. f. S. Macfarlane was sent to Porto Rico to organize a Council there in the latter part of 1928. Mr. Irving Wiltse was forced to return to the United States early in 1929 due to a serious accident to Ivlrs. Wiltse.· He replace Mr. Macfarlane in Porto Rieu in January, 1930. Mr. Joseph R. Greenan trafisferred to San Antonio, Texas in July, 1929 after empioying Mr. Jose P. Caoili as Assistant Scout Executive in February after the departure of Mr. Irving Wiltse. Mr. Caoili served in this capacity until March. 1930 when he left the movement. All of these Executiws rendered faithful service as evidenced by the rapid growth of membership and standards during their terms of office. Past Presidents Major P. D. Carman. 1923-1927, Joseph H. Schmidt. 1928-9. Frank B. Ingersoll. 1930, .Arthur,F. Fischer. 1931-32, Major Vicent~ Lim, 193.2-1933, all rendered splendid service .to the cause of scouting during their respectiv~ administrations. They hclprd to solve progressively, many of "the problems confronting the future growth and development of the movement.-fram th: Annual Report of the Scout Executive. 1933. . (From now on. there will be published a seri;!S of questions taken from the 'Scoutmaster's Corre spondence Course,' for }'OU to tCst your knowledg: in Scouting.) The following are the first five qucs tions. Answer. them with True or False. Answl·rs will be published in the next issue of "Th·: Youn?, Citizen." QUIZZ 1-1. The fundamental aim of the Boy Scout MoVf~· ment is to provide boys ,.,,·ith S:outing Activities that will keep them out of mischief. 2. The Scoutmaster $ho11ld .delegate routine d..: tail to other officers instead of doing such forma! work himself.

pages

59

Media