Story: TOBS 2013, The Awards of being a scout To be personally chosen by the scout council executive, Mr.

Ramon Jacinto, to represent the Baguio City Council for the 2013 search for the Ten Outstanding Boy Scouts of The Philippines (TOBS) was extremely an honor. As my first reaction, was I really the right person and do I really deserve the award? I never saw myself receiving such a prestigious award, but, I was so thankful that the Baguio City Council trusted me so much and they knew that I deserved the award. Hence, preparations started. To be qualified to be one of the Ten Outstanding Boy Scouts of the Philippines, one must be a Venturer/Eagle scout. A Venturer is the second highest rank achieved by a scout. After completion of my Venturer requirement, A 6-man panel Board of review members was scheduled last of Wednesday August 2013 for my interview at the BSP council board room from 8:00 am to 11:00 am. Despite all the apprehensions and nervousness I had passed the interview. While preparing for my venture requirements, at the same time, preparations were ongoing for my official entry form for the 2013 Search for the Ten Outstanding Boy Scouts of the Philippines. There were three Baguio Council Candidates for the 2013 TOBS. The interview and selection was done at the BSP Council Board Room which consisted again of a 6 panel board members from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm last august 9 2013,The three candidates were from the University of Baguio Science High School, Baguio City National High School, and Don Bosco High School. At the end of the day, a unanimous decision was in favor of Don Bosco High School, to represent the NELR Regional Level. This was just the beginning of a long and hard climb. The subject had to prepare himself with Local, National, and international issues and had to prepare himself for the Regional Selection and Interview. There were five Regional Candidates, two from Benguet, one from Cagayan, one from Abra and one from Baguio City representing DBHS. The Regional interview and selection was headed by the panel of board members. The NELR Regional interview and selection was held at the BSP Council Board room last August 4 2013. The TOBS 2013 candidates from DBHS and the Cagayan region won the NELR Regional Level and eventually the DBHS representative conquered the selection and qualified for the National Level. While waiting for the scheduled trip to Manila for the 2013 TOBS National Level Interview and Selection the candidate had to prepare himself for a harder interview. With Ms. Elvira Ambros (4B class advisor) Every afternoon, right after class the 2013 TOBS candidate would have a question and answer to make him more versatile in the issues under the sun. The candidate left for Manila last September 26 2013 for the National Level Selection and Interview. For the whole duration that all the candidates were in Manila, where they had the privilege to tour around the prestigious accounting firm Sycip and Velayo (SGV) which employs math wizards and TOBS awardees. They also had a chance to tour with their major sponsor, Coca Cola Export Company Factory. While being housed in the BSP National Office from Sept.26 2013-Oct. 1 2013 they were preoccupied with group activities till 1:00 in the morning. To my surprise, the National Interview was the easiest and I had fun with the Board Members. Awarding Ceremony was held at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) last October 1 2013 and the master of Ceremony was headed by no other than our Vice President of the Philippines Jejomar C. Binay, who is at present the President of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines. To all my fellow scouts, those who gain the prize are those who aim at excellence. Scouting is a community where high quality and enriching relationships are built, where tolerance and valuing others are key points in your daily life. I challenge you to use all your God given gifts to achieve excellence and make significant progress in all your opportunities that exist in your daily lives. By: Ian Christopher R. Mangaoang