MANILA -- Sam Santos, 11, is one of the members of Roberto Castor Rover Scouts-Circle 11, who visited on All Saints' Day the Boy Scout Cenotaph inside the Manila North Cemetery to honor the 24 Boy Scouts, who died in a plane crash en route to the 11th World Scout Jamboree in Athens, Greece in 1963.
"We're here to commemorate their death kasi hindi naman po sila naging hero-scouts dahil bumagsak ang eroplano, dahil din po iyon sa serbisyong naibigay nila habang scouts pa sila (because they didn't become hero-scouts because of the plane crash, it is also due to the services they had given while they were scouts)," Santos told the Philippine News Agency (PNA).
Roberto Castor Rover Scouts-Circle 11 is a community-based scout group, established in memory of Roberto Castor, who was then a 14-year-old Boy Scout, when the plane crash claimed his life. The scout group's members hail from different schools in Quezon City.
The other scouts who died in the plane crash were Ramon Valdes Albano, Patricio Dulay Bayoran, Gabriel Nicolas Borromeo, Henry Cabrera Chuatoco, Victor Oteyza de Guia, Jose Antonio Chuidian Delgado, FCS Felix Palma Fuentebella, Pedro Hermano Gandia, Antonio Mariano Limbaga, Roberto del Prado Lozano, Paulo Cabrera Madriñan, Jose Fermin Magbanua, Romeo Rafael Rallos, Filamer Santos Reyes, Wilfredo Mendoza Santiago, Benecio Suarez Tobias, Antonio Rios Torillo, Ascario Ampil Tuason, and Rogelio Celis Ybardolaza.
Marc Zion Cresencio, president of the scout group, told the PNA that the story of these boy scouts and their scoutmasters inspired him to serve as a scout leader.
"I'm now 20 years old, graduate of Bachelor's degree in Secondary Education major in English, but I plan to serve as a scout because it gives me a lot of benefits and it helps me in helping or training those who are younger than me," he said.
Cresencio shared that he became a scout at the age of nine, after his mom encouraged him to join a jamboree, so he could cope with the sadness brought about by his father's sudden death.
"Naging introvert ako nang mamatay ang dad ko. Sa scouting, hindi lang natanggal ang sadness ko, na-encourage din ako maging displinado sa pag-aaral kasi sabi ng Scoutmaster ko, hindi ako makakasama sa jamboree kung mababa ang grades (I became an introvert after my father died. Through scouting, my sadness was gone, and I was encouraged to be disciplined in my studies because my Scoutmaster told me I could not join the jamboree if I had low grades)," he related.
Cresencio added scouting allows young people like him to break free from the harmful influence of mobile games, to which most students and young professionals are addicted nowadays.
"Nilalawakan kasi ng scouting ang mundo mo, hindi gaya sa mobile games na nakatutok ka lang sa cellphone sa loob ng bahay. Sa scouting may socialization at dumadami ang mga kaibigan mo (Scouting widens your world, unlike mobile games, which get you hooked on your cellphone inside your house. Scouting involves socialization and you get more friends)," he said.
He added scouting teaches him various ways to be helpful and become a good servant-leader.
"Sa scouting po, ang isang leader dapat marunong umintindi sa pangangailangan ng iba at dapat marunong din makisama (In scouting, a leader must understand others' needs and must be able to get along with others), he said.
Fe Castor Pangan, sister of the deceased scout Roberto Castor, manages the group's scouting activities, together with National Capital Region Commissioner for Community-Based Scouting Florencio Antonio.
Pangan told the PNA that their group has raised professional scouts, who are tasked to train younger scouts for the future.
"Mayroon na po kaming na-train na engineer, medical technician, seaman sa loob ng four years. Sila po ang magpapatuloy sa next generation ng scouts (We have trained an engineer, medical technician, seaman in a span of four years. They will continue the next generation of scouts)," she said.
Stressing that scouting is key in raising disciplined Filipino youths, Antonio said their group aims to provide the country dependable future leaders.
"We want scouting to be a source of manpower, when it comes to leadership. So, we send our scouts to different schools as instructors also, then we do projects in the community," he added.
Apart from saying their prayers for their predecessors, the young scouts took turns guarding the Boy Scout Cenotaph from morning to early evening Thursday. (PNA)
