Honorary Georgian Consul Thelmo Cunanan Jr has successfully organized the “twinning agreement” between the Boy Scouts of the Philippines (BSP) and its counterpart in Georgia, the Georgian Organization of the Scout Movement (GOSM). The document was signed in Tbilisi by GOSM Chairman Giorgi Kvintelani and witnessed by Consul Cunanan and Levan Akhvlediani, Chairman of the Philippines – Georgia Business and Friendship Association. Consul Cunanan was also inducted as an “honorary Georgian scout”.

This is a historic accomplishment as this is the first agreement of the BSP with a counterpart organization in Europe. It is also the first such official partnership between GOSM and a scouting organization in Asia.

Both sides agreed to, among others, promote scouting and exchange delegations, share research and best practices, extend assistance to each other when necessary and possible, and develop online platforms for the maintenance of communication.

Consul Cunanan and the top officials of the BSP are planning an official scout delegation to Georgia in August 2017, in partnership with GOSM and the International Scout Center Rustavi. The BSP is the national scout association of the Philippines in the World Organization of the Scout Movement. The BSP is among the largest Scout organizations in the world in terms of membership count, second only to the United States and Indonesia. The GOSM, on the other hand, is a very young organization that traces its roots to the “Young Pioneers” of the Soviet-era. However, GOSM is now fully-integrated into Boy Scouts International and has been working actively to link up with partner scouts organizations all over the world.