Gawad TOBSPA

To recognize scouts who have shown exemplary conduct in upholding the principle “to help other people at all times,” the Ten Outstanding Boy Scouts of the Philippines Association Introduced the TOBSPA Award for Community Service, commonly known as Gawad TOBSPA,  in 2015.

As the National Search for Ten Outstanding Boy Scouts of the Philippines not only emphasizes academic excellence, scouting skills, and good moral conduct, Gawad TOBSPA highlights the sterling qualities of a scout in initiating, implementing, and monitoring community-driven projects.

All the national finalists for the search are eligible candidates for the TOBSPA Award for Community Service.  From among their community service initiatives, a shortlist of projects will be identified and would undergo a final screening by a panel of judges composed of representatives from the government service, civic organizations, academe, BSP, and TOBSPA.  They will be guided by the following criteria:

• Scout’s pivotal role in the implementation of the community service project, which requires competent leadership in conceiving and implementing the project;

• Impact of the project on the community, which requires that the project must have benefited the community, improved the well-being of the people, and showed them an example of how to care for the community. The impact is usually expressed in the people’s gratitude to the proponents of the service;

• Ingenuity, resourcefulness, and personal sacrifices in the implementation strategies, which require that the community service project must tell stories of overcoming risks and difficulties through intelligence and selflessness. Ideally, the effort must have succeeded after testing the limit of human patience and endurance; and

• Extent of community participation, which requires that the project must not be an individual initiative, but must have motivated as many participants as possible.

The recipient of the TOBSPA Award for Community Service is announced during the TOBS Search Awarding Ceremonies.  Since the screening process for this Award is independent of the TOBS Search judging process, the recipient may not necessarily be one of the year’s TOBS awardees.  In addition, the board of judges has the option not to confer the Award to any of the finalists if the latter fall short of the standards of an exemplary community service project.

Since its inception, the award is named each year after scouts who have dedicated their lives to the service of others known as the “Gawad Honoree”. The honor is a recognition of the honoree’s work which demonstrates the very essence of duty to our country—a service marked with a sense of passion and unwavering faith in the Scouting Movement as a vehicle to promote constructive social transformation and positive community impact. Notable honorees include Valeriano Abello, Sajid Bulig, and Atty. David Bueno. Most recently, the Gawad Honoree for the 2022 Search is Former President Fidel V. Ramos.