Legal basis and amended law
- Presidential Decree No. 460 amends Commonwealth Act No. 111 (otherwise known as the National Charter of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines).
- Commonwealth Act No. 111 is cited as the charter that created the Boy Scouts of the Philippines as a public corporation and provided operational guidelines.
- Presidential Decree No. 460 expressly amends Section 1, Section 5, Section 6, and Section 7 of Commonwealth Act No. 111.
- Presidential Decree No. 460 further amends Commonwealth Act No. 111 by adding a new section immediately after Section 10.
Policy, purpose, and reform intent
- Presidential Decree No. 460 directs reforms to change the organization’s structure to revitalize and strengthen the Boy Scouts’ operational capabilities.
- Presidential Decree No. 460 seeks to enhance the organization’s effectiveness as an instrument to promote the youth development program of the nation.
- Presidential Decree No. 460 aims to ensure the full and active cooperation, involvement and support of all sectors of the community, both public and private.
- Presidential Decree No. 460 recognizes the increasing membership and support generated from public and private sectors during the Golden Jubilee celebrations as evidence of acceptance of the Scouting program.
- Presidential Decree No. 460 recognizes Scouts’ civic and community development involvement as demonstrating their capacity to become “new nation builders” with proper opportunity and leadership.
Corporation identity and principal office
- Section 1 (as amended) creates a body corporate and politic in deed and in law named “Boy Scouts of the Philippines”.
- Section 1 (as amended) identifies the principal founders and assigns them as corporators, naming J. E. H. Stevenot, A. N. Luz, C. P. Romulo, Vicente Lim, Manuel Camus, Jorge B. Vargas, and G. A. Daza, all of Manila, Philippines, including their associates and successors.
- Section 1 (as amended) places the corporation’s principal office in Metropolitan Manila, Philippines.
Governing body and board composition
- Section 5 (as amended) establishes the corporation’s governing body as a National Executive Board.
- Section 5 (as amended) includes the following as members of the National Executive Board:
- (a) the President of the Philippines or his representative;
- (b) the charter and life members of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines;
- (c) the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Philippine Scouting Foundation;
- (d) the Regional Chairman of the Scout Regions of the Philippines;
- (e) the Secretary of Education and Culture, Secretary of Social Welfare, Secretary of National Defense, Secretary of Labor, Secretary of Finance, Secretary of Youth and Sports, and Secretary of Local Government and Community Development;
- (f) an equal number of individuals from the private sector;
- (g) the National President of the Girl Scouts of the Philippines;
- (h) one Scout of Senior age from each Scout Region to represent the boy membership; and
- (i) three representatives of the cultural minorities.
- Section 5 (as amended) provides that all members of the National Executive Board are appointed or coopted except the Regional Chairman, who shall be elected by the Regional Scout Councils during their annual meetings, and the Scouts of their respective regions.
- Section 5 (as amended) requires that members appointed or coopted are subject to ratification and confirmation by the Chief Scout, who is identified as the Head of State.
- Section 5 (as amended) provides that vacancies in the Executive Board are filled by a majority vote of the remaining members, subject to ratification and confirmation by the Chief Scout.
By-laws, quorum, committees, and corporate powers
- Section 5 (as amended) authorizes the by-laws to prescribe the number of members needed to constitute a quorum for the National Executive Board, which number may be less than a majority of the whole board.
- Section 5 (as amended) gives the National Executive Board power to make and amend by-laws.
- Section 5 (as amended) allows the National Executive Board, by a two-thirds vote of the whole board at a meeting called for the purpose, to authorize and cause the execution of mortgages and liens upon the corporation’s property.
- Section 5 (as amended) provides that the National Executive Board may, by resolution passed by a majority vote of the whole board, designate three or more members to constitute an executive or governing committee.
- Section 5 (as amended) states that a majority of the committee constitutes a quorum, and the committee exercises the powers of the executive board to the extent provided in the resolution or in the corporation’s by-laws.
- Section 5 (as amended) authorizes the executive or governing committee, to the extent allowed, to have power to authorize the seal of the corporation to be affixed to papers requiring it.
- Section 5 (as amended) provides that the National Executive Board, by affirmative vote of a majority of the whole board, may appoint other standing committees and confer powers as authorized by the by-laws.
- Section 5 (as amended) requires written consent and an affirmative vote of a majority of the members of the corporation for the National Executive Board to dispose in any manner of the whole property of the corporation.
Meetings, reporting, quorum, and corporate records
- Section 6 (as amended) requires the National Executive Board to meet once every three months, at a time and place designated in the by-laws.
- Section 6 (as amended) mandates that the annual meeting of the incorporators, their associates and successors be held once in every year after the year of incorporation, at the time and place prescribed in the by-laws.
- Section 6 (as amended) provides that annual reports of the officers and the executive board are presented at the annual meeting.
- Section 6 (as amended) allows special meetings of the corporation to be called upon such notice as prescribed in the by-laws.
- Section 6 (as amended) states that the number of members constituting a quorum at annual or special meetings is prescribed in the by-laws.
- Section 6 (as amended) grants members and the executive board the power to hold meetings and keep the seal, books, documents, and papers of the corporation within or without Metropolitan Manila.
Badges, uniforms, insignia, and exclusive use
- Section 7 (as amended) requires the corporation to adopt distinctive badges, uniforms and insignia for the Scouts of the Philippines.
- Section 7 (as amended) grants the corporation the sole and exclusive right to use the titles, emblems, uniforms, badges, descriptive or designating marks, words and phrases used by the Scouts of the Philippines in carrying out its program.
- Section 7 (as amended) ties exclusive use to carrying out Scouting in accordance with the purposes of the amended charter.
Interim reorganization leadership
- Presidential Decree No. 460 adds a new section immediately after Section 10 establishing interim authority before full reorganization is completed.
- The added provision appoints Honorable Carlos P. Romulo, identified as Chairman of the Golden Jubilee Board and one of the organization’s founders and a charter member, as Interim Chairman of the Board and President of the Organization.
- The added provision authorizes Carlos P. Romulo to organize an interim body to conduct the affairs of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines.
- The added provision directs the interim body to take necessary steps to effect the Executive Board reorganization and restructuring within six (6) months from the date of the decree.
Execution, signing, and immediate effect
- Presidential Decree No. 460 declares that it shall effect, immediately upon issuance.
- Presidential Decree No. 460 is executed under the President’s signature and countersigned by the Executive Secretary.