VPSD Speech for Boy Scouts of the Philippines 66th Annual National Council Meeting (ANCM), Leyte Academic Center, Palo, Leyte

Event date: May 11, 2023, at 1:30 p.m.

Assalamualaikum.

[STANDARD GREETINGS & ACKNOWLEDGMENT]

Thank you to the Boy Scouts of the Philippines (BSP) — the National Executive Board, the Regional Scouting Committee, and the Local Council Executive Board — for inviting me to your 66th Annual Council Meeting.

The importance of your organization in the growth and development of young Filipino boys is something that we cannot overemphasize.

Over the years, your dedication to the mission to help young Filipino boys become strong, confident, skilled, reliable, responsible, and productive individuals continues to burn.

You have been tireless in planting in the hearts and souls of our children the seeds of your organization’s values and principles — guiding their growth, shaping their characters as individuals ever ready to serve others and serve the country — at all times.

You have prepared them for bigger men tasks like emergency and disaster preparedness and response — and introduced to them survival skills.

The Scout Movement has proven itself as an integral part of our education system — complementing our academic programs for young Filipino boys.

This is something that we have been discussing within the Office of the Secretary of the Department of Education — on how to integrate mandatory scouting into the Filipino Peace Culture curriculum.

Today, the Marcos administration aggressively implements programs and projects that are aimed at fortifying our strength, our security, and our stability as a nation.

Along this is our vision of giving rise to a generation of Filipinos with an enduring love of country — a generation with the willingness and capability to help the government ensure that the Philippines becomes strong, secure, and stable.

The values that young Filipino boys learn from the Scout Movement — honesty, integrity, respect, and service to others — are necessary for our pursuit of a strong, secure, and stable nation.

May I emphasize that these values are also crucial in realizing the MATATAG Agenda of the Department of Education.

The MATATAG Agenda pushes for transformative, concrete, and targeted reforms in our basic education system.

It seeks to provide urgent solutions to our troubles and hopes to improve learning among students.

Our vision — is for the Philippines to become a Bansang Makabata.

And Filipino children to become Batang Makabansa.

As our partner, may I call on the Boy Scouts of the Philippines to support our advocacy for all Filipino children to be able to go to school and obtain degrees.

Education, as we know it, is a powerful weapon against poverty and a strong shield against forces that aims to manipulate, control, or poison the minds of the Filipino children and youth.

Which brings me to my other call for Boy Scouts of the Philippines to help us protect our children from sexual abuses, slavery, the lure of illegal drugs, and the deception of the terrorist Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed terrorist group, New People’s Army, as well as recruitment into extreme religious violent extremism.

These forces steal the innocence of our children — crushing their souls and destroying their future, thereby, destroying the future of our country.

As a community, we have a collective responsibility to ensure the future of Filipino children.

We are also tasked to guarantee that their rights are respected and their welfare is protected.

Meanwhile, today, we pay tribute to the Scout Heroes and Scout Leaders who have exhibited the value of commitment, patriotism, and selflessness in their efforts to affect social change in the lives of others, both locally and nationally.

These Scout Heroes and Scout Leaders will remind us that we are capable of creating change that could also positively change the lives of others.

The National Court of Honor is a wonderful occasion to recognize and celebrate our Scout Leaders and Heroes.

May you continue to spread the values of the Scout Movement and inspire children to pursue their dreams and embrace a life of leadership and service, integrity, decency, and love of country.

Ang lahat ng ginagawa natin ay para sa Diyos, sa bayan, at sa bawat pamilyang Pilipino.

Shukran.