HISTORY OF SCOUTING IN THE PHILIPPINES

Scouting in the Philippines is among the oldest in the world, with an all-Filipino Boy Scout troop
organizedin Mindanao as early as 1914. This is early if one recognizes that Scouting started in
England, with Lord Baden-Powell behind it, in 1908 and was introduced in the United States only in 1910.
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The first Boy Scout troop in the Philippines was composed entirely of Filipino Muslims boys. The troop

wasorganized by Lt. Sherman L. Kiser of the

Philippine Scouts, U.S. Army, at an army barracks in Zamboanga. It wasnamed the Lorillard
Spencer Troop, in honor of the son of Mrs. Caroline Spencer, whose idea and support made
theformation of the troop possible. On January 1923, the Boy Scouts of America, Philippine
Council was formallyorganized through the initiative of the Manila Rotary Club. The program of
the Boy Scouts of America was utilizedin the Philippines.
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Realizing that Scouting had come to stay in the Philippines, Assemblyman Tomas Confesor of
Iloilo sponsored the bill in the National Assembly incorporating the Boy Scouts of the
Philippines, with Col. J.E.H. Stevenot, JudgeManuel Camus, Gen Vicente Lim, Arsenio N. Luz,
Carlos P. Romulo, Jorge B. Vargas and Gabriel Daza asincorporators and Charter members. This
was signed into Law as Commonwealth Act No. 111 on October 31, 1936 by President Manuel L.
Quezon.
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Operations of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines was temporarily disrupted during the Japanese
occupation (1942-1945) and resumed on February 24, 1945 when the National Council of the
Boy Scouts of the Philippines wasestablished.
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On October 1, 1946, the Boy Scouts of the Philippines was recognized as a member of the World
Scout Movement by the World Scout Conference as an independent national scout association.
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In 1959, in recognition of its leadership in Scouting in Asia, the 10

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World Jamboree was held in Mt. Makiling,Laguna. It was the first time a World Jamboree was
held outside of Europe. The date also marked establishment of the National Scout Training
Center in Makiling.
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In 1961, the BSP National Executive Board approved and adopted a Revitalized Scouting
Program. This officiallylaunched on June 19, 1961, the first successful attempt at Filipinization of the Scout
Program.
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In 1972, the Boy Scout of the Philippines membership surpassed the million mark, ranking it as
the largest ScoutOrganization in Asia and largest in the World.
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At present the Boy Scouts of the Philippines with its membership of 2.5 million Scouts ranks
second in the Asia-Pacific Region, and is thord to the Boy Scouts of America in World
membership is 28 million with 75% of themembership coming from the Asia-Pacific Region.
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To effect changes in its organization charter, Presidential Decree 460 was issued by them
President Ferdinand E.Marcos on May 17, 1974, amending certain provisions of Commonwealth
Act No. 111 and mandating arestructuring of the Boy Scout of the Philippines. As part of the continuing
effort to make Scouting relevant to the needs of the Filipino youth and nation, the BSP
Nationalexecutive Board approved a Scheme for Program Formation and a Revised
Commissioner Setup on May 28, 1986. The program of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines with
its four sections would follow the New Directions Program (KABScouting) for 1975. Revitalized
Boy Scouting Program (Young Scout) for 1961, and the Service Scouting Section (Senior Scout)
of 1975. This became effective until December, 1991, following the finalization of the New
Horizons Program bymid-year of 1991. The Rover Scouting Program has also been readapted
with certain modifications following the revitalizedRover Scouting program on April 23, 1962.
A fifth Scout Section, KID scouting was formally approved by the NationalExecutive Board on
February 26, 1990. The rest is more colorful history.
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Scouting was first introduced in the Philippines by the United States, around 1914, 4 years after
the Boy Scouts of America was founded. The first all Filipino Scout Troop was organized
in Zamboanga by a young lieutenant by thename of Sherman l. Kiser through the sponsorship of
Mrs. Caroline S. Spencer, an American who was in thePhilippines doing Charity work. The troop
was composed of 26 Muslim boys. In 1923, the Philippine Council-BSAwas formed through the
efforts of the Rotary Club of Manila mainly to launch Scouting as a nationwide movementand to
provide guidance to the troops which had been independently organized throughout the country.
1923 is theofficial founding of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines. In October 1936, president
Manuel L. Quezon issued an actwhich made the Boy Scout movement a public corporation, "«to
promote through organization and cooperationwith other agencies, the ability of boys to do
things for themselves and others, to train themselves in Scout craft,and to teach them patriotism,
courage, self-reliance and kindred virtues, using the methods which are in commonuse by Boy
Scouts.´The Boy Scouts of the Philippines became a member of the World Bureau (WOSM), in
1946.There are 2,888,265 registered members in the Boy Scouts of the Philippines as of January
1998. Scouting history of the Philippines can be traced back to the American occupation of the
islands. The firstdocumented formation of a Scout troop in the islands was that of the
Lorillard Spencer troop of Zamboanga formedin 1914 by a U.S. Navy Lieutenant named Sherman
Kiser.Sherman Kiser was initially assigned to escort American charity worker Caroline Spencer
in Sulu. Mrs Spencer sawhow Filipino boys could benefit from Scouting and discussed her ideas
with Kiser. This suggestion was natural for Mrs. Spencer as her son, Lorillard Spencer was quite
active in Scouting in the United States, hence the name of thetroop. Kiser was reassigned
however to Zamboanga, but he followed through with Mrs. Spencer's suggestion andformed a
Scout troop composed of young Muslim boys. Upon learning of the formation of a new troop,
Mrs.Spencer sent monetary support to purchase uniform and construct a headquarter