LINGAYEN— “Fellow scouts, this will be my last annual national council meeting as president of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines. But by God’s will, the next time I’ll be addressing you, I will already be your Chief Scout.”

Thus said Vice President and presidential candidate, Jejomar Binay when he formally opened the 60th Annual National Council Meeting of the BSP held at the Sison Auditorium in Lingayen last February 17.

“I say that without hesitation for I sincerely believe that the Boy Scouts of the Philippines has the capability to produce a deserving leader from its ranks who can lead our beloved Philippines to progress and prosperity,” Binay told leaders of the over a hundred BSP councils.

Meanwhile, Binay took pride of the increase in the number of their members during his term that now has 2.4 million members, fourth-highest in the world in terms of membership, next to Indonesia, United States, and India.

“Despite all the things that have affected the scouting movement because of the fact that our president is running for the highest position in our country, sa awa ng Diyos, imbes na mabawasan kami, nadagdagan pa kami,” Acting secretary general Wendel Avisado said.

Now on his 20th year as BSP national president, Binay has been criticized for holding the position for the longest time, while former BSP national presidents held the position for a maximum of seven years only.

A petition was even filed by lawyer Jesus Nicardo Falcis III before the Supreme Court to declare Binay’s post in the BSP as unconstitutional.

Robert Pagdanganan, BSP senior vice president, claimed Binay has done a great job as BSP national president citing the increase in BSP’s fund from P54 million in 1994 to P4.6 billion. (Johanne Macob)

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