Scout Pepe

“As a girl scoutand a true Filipino, I will be clean in thought, word and deed; compassionate, disciplined, industrious, law-abiding, loyal, ready to help others, respectful of all living things, self-reliant, and trustworthy.”

This is the Girl Scout Law. The values enumerated are what Josefa Llanes envisioned for every girl in this country to possess. She believed that girls were strong forces in nation building. Given the proper training, girls could develop self-esteem and acquire livelihood skills to become more productive. They could become active partners in making every community dynamic.  In line with this, Llanes founded the Girl Scout of the Philippines Movement in 1940.

 If you have a thousand-peso bill, you can find Josefa Llanes there, along with two other heroes martyred during the Japanese occupation. She became an Escoda when she got married to Antonio Escoda, a journalist.

Josefa Llanes-Escoda, or simply – Pepa, served the Boy Scouts of the Philippines first. In 1933, she was sent to the United States to study the growing scouting movement for girls. She was already a social worker at that time so she was exposed to international works of promoting peace through fun activities.

Those learning activities involved the great outdoors. That’s why scouting was closely related to camping and jungle survival skills, a tradition that continues to this day.

Eventually, scouting has since become an extra-curricular activity in Philippine schools, to the great excitement of schoolchildren. The movement teaches the value of friendship and citizenship.

Scout Pepa is known to have poured out her heart into the movement. This is not unusual since she grew up as a very helpful child. Historians describe her to be “very caring to her family and country’s welfare.” She is said to have beeen industrious and diligent in her studies.

She is known, too, to have been such a bright student. She would have a book to read every day. Once, a typhoon hit her hometown – in Dingras, Ilocos Norte – but she still insisted in reporting to school. Her mother could not even stop her. “Hindi mapipigil ng sama ng panahon ang aking pag-aaral,” was how she explained her passion for education to her mother; not even the storm could get in her way.

She graduated valedictorian in grade school. She became a teacher many years after, and taught in various schools. It was her innate desire to serve which inspired her to pursue a course in social work for the Philippine chapter of the American Red Cross.