Rehabilitation Period

The war ended with the formal Japanese surrender ceremony aboard the USS Missouri on August 15, 1945, but the Boy Scouts of the Philippines cam back to the surface long before that. On February 24, 1945, the BSP headquarters resumed operations officially and began the painful task of rehabilitation. The BSP's biggest loss was the burning of its records during the battle for the liberation of Manila.

The Boy Scouts of the Philippines couldn't have done its successful rehabilitation without the material help and support from the Boy Scouts of America and the U.S. Armed Forces. Scout leaders everywhere hewed at the reconstruction job with heroic vigor and perseverance.

Achievements

On October 1, 1946, the Boy Scouts of the Philippines was admitted as a member of the Internation Scout Conference, now called the World Organization of the Scout Movement. The membership grew by leaps and bounds, from a modest beginning of 8,128 in 1945, to 54,734 in 1946, to 139,681 in 1947, and to 175,057 in 1948.

In 1947, while still recovering from the ravages of the war, the BSP sent a delegation of 28 Scouts and 6 Scouters to the 6th World Jamboree in Moisson, France. This was the first World Jamboree after the war and the first the that the BSP was represented as an independent organization.

In 1951, at the 13th International Scout Conference in Australia. BSP founder and then president Jorge Vargas became the first Filipino to be elected member of the International Committee.

Philippine attendance in international Jamborees became consistent, which marked the improvement on family incomes among Filipinos. It was - and still is - expensive to attend international Jamborees. Also the first Wood Badge course was held at Camp Gre-Zar in Quezon City in 1953.

First National Jamboree BSP

The BSP also started holding its own National Jamboree with the first one held in Balara, Quezon City on April 23-30, 1954. A total of 5,111 boys attended with 187 of them coming from 11 foreign countries. The Isabela Council contingent made history by hiking to the Jamboree site, a distance of 400 kilometers which the boys covered in 15 days.

10th World Jamboree

In 1957, at the 16th International Conference held in England, the Philippines was designated the site of the 10th World Jamboree scheduled to be held in 1959. This was the highest honor bestowed by World Scouting to the Philippines. The country was to be known as the site of the first World Jamboree in Asia and the second one outside of Europe.

The BSP prepared well for the task. The Jamboree attracted a total of 11,856 participants with 2,493 coming from 50 foreign countries. It was held at the National Scout Reservation at Mt. Makiling in Los Baños, Laguna on July 17-26, 1959. Daily visitors averaged 50,000 on each of the two Sundays of the Jamboree.

For more information about the Tenth World Jamboree and other World Jamborees visit the Pine Tree Web.