The World Scout Committee has given former Vice President Jejomar Binay the prestigious Bronze Wolf Award for his exemplary leadership and service at all levels of Scouting.
The Bronze Wolf is the highest honor given to a volunteer scout leader worldwide and is the only distinction presented by WSC, the executive body of the World Organization of the Scout Movement.
The award was given during a ceremony on Saturday at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City.
Binay expressed his gratitude for the recognition, saying he wanted to share the honor with all his fellow Filipino scouts in the country and abroad.
“I am deeply grateful to the World Scout Committee for considering me to be worthy of the Bronze Wolf Award. It is such a great honor, and I would like to humbly share it with my fellow Filipino scouts all over the world who embody the principles of Scouting in their own pursuits,” he said.
Binay also called on fellow scouts who are in leadership positions to strive to fulfill the mission of the scout movement, which is “to contribute to the development of young people in achieving their full physical, intellectual, social and spiritual potentials as individuals, as responsible citizens and as members of their local, national and international communities.”
“I hope that those among us who are leaders in their own right are making a conscious and sustained effort to be catalysts of holistic growth among the youth, taking every opportunity to bring out the best in them and help them achieve their full potential,” he said.
The Bronze Wolf awardee is a known advocate of youth empowerment through quality education.
As mayor of Makati for over two decades prior to his election as vice president in 2010, Binay established a strong public education system that has become the benchmark for quality public education in the country.
He prioritized the construction of modern school buildings and facilities comparable to private schools, making these highly accessible and conducive to learning.
Today, students in the city’s public schools continue to enjoy free school supplies and school gear from head to toe, giving those from poor families a fighting chance at succeeding in life.
Makati also gained international prominence when its public health program that was Binay’s brainchild, the Yellow Card, was named a “Best Practice” by the Dubai International Award 2002. Today, Makati remains one of Metro Manila’s healthiest cities, with one of the lowest mortality and malnutrition rates in the country.
During his term as mayor, Binay was also ranked fourth among the Top Ten World Mayors in 2006. The biennial award organized by the City Mayors Foundation aims to raise the profile of mayors worldwide, honoring those who have served with excellence and dedication and spurred the overall growth and development of their cities.
The former vice president first joined the scout movement over 30 years ago as a Cub Scout in the Philippines.
He earned his First Class award but left the Movement as a Senior Scout to pursue his law profession. He later returned to Scouting as a volunteer adult scout leader who would go on to become president of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines and chairman of the Asia-Pacific Region.
To date, Binay is the only scout to have served on the Asia Pacific Regional Scout Committee for 12 years (1998- 2004, 2007-2012), and the only Regional Committee member to have served as chairman of the Asia-Pacific Region for two three-year terms (2007-2010, 2010-2012).
As regional chairman, he set a high standard of leadership in National Scout Organizations and strengthened camaraderie among national and regional leaders.
He also welcomed the Cambodia Scouts Association to the Movement while setting the groundwork for other prospective member countries like Timor-Leste, Myanmar, and Vietnam.
As part of the transition team, he was especially instrumental in the successful transfer of the World Scout Bureau Global Office from Geneva, Switzerland to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.