In August, Honorary Georgian Consul Thelmo Cunanan will lead a top-level delegation of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines on an official trip to Georgia. Heading the 10-member delegation will be BSP National President Wendell Avisado, who is also the Presidential Adviser for Special Concerns of President Rodrigo Duterte, and BSP Secretary General Rogelio Villa.

The BSP is visiting Georgia on the invitation of its counterpart, the Georgian Organization of the Scout Movement (GOSM). The two bodies are official national scout organization partners—a historic relationship established by Consul Cunanan in 2016. This is the first such relationship of Georgia with the Philippines and with the entire Asia. This is also BSP’ first partner organization in Europe and first national-level relationship in its history.

The BSP is one of the oldest scout organizations and currently the third largest in the world, after the United States and Indonesia. It has over 30,000 active members all over the Philippines. The BSP and GOSM will hold dialogues on best practices for scouting organizations and training programs. The two organizations will also commit to regular exchanges of Boy Scout delegations and to promote each other’s country as a site for overseas scouting activities.

In related activities, Consul Cunanan will also lead the Philippine and Georgian scouts during the repainting of “Mabuhay”, the Georgia-Philippines Friendship Mini Park in Tbilisi Zoo. “Mabuhay” was built in 2015 by Consul Cunanan, working closely with Tbilisi Zoo Director Zura Guerlidze and Tbilisi Mayor David Narmania.