Anything Under the Sun
Iloilo Boy Scouts Diamond Jubilee
Last October 25, the Iloilo (Confesor) Council of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines celebrated its Diamond Jubilee (60th Anniversary).
Chartered on October 25, 1946, the council's first chairman was Jose V. Aguilar and first scout executive was Jose Zerrudo.
Aguilar was followed up to the present by: Manuel Escarilla, Gaundencio Vega, Ignacio Salazar, Frederick A. Loring, Lazaro M. Zulueta, Leonardo E. Lozano, Timoteo Y. Consing, Jr., Ramon Hechanova and presently the longest termer (14 years) Adolfo Jaen.
The council was named in honor of Assemblyman Tomas Confesor who sponsored Commonwealth Act No. 111 creating the Boy Scouts of the Philippines and signed by Commonwealth President Manuel Quezon on October 31, 1936.
Parenthetically, the incorporators of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines were: Col. J.E.H. Stevenot, Judge Manuel Camus, Gen. Vicente Lim, Arsenio N. Luz, Carlos P. Romulo, Executive Secretary Jorge B. Vargas and Gabriel Daza.
The Boy Scouts movement in the country was introduced by the Americans in 1923 when the Philippine Council of Boy Scouts of America was organized in Manila. The Boy Scouts itself was founded in 1907 by Lord Robert S. Baden-Powell in England.
In its 60 years of existence, the Iloilo (Confesor) Council had received three times (1996, 2001 and 2003) the national Lorilla Spencer Trophy awarded to the most outstanding Council in the country.
One historical event in the council history was its sponsorship of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines National Golden Jubilee in 1986 at Cadagmayan, Santa Barbara, Iloilo during the incumbency of Chair Timoteo Consing, Jr.