I read with great indignation and a bleeding heart the news of Vice President Jejomar Binay’s reelection as president of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines (“Binay reelected BSP president unopposed,” Front Page, 6/22/15). The nerve of this guy and his highly paid minions!
I was inducted as a cub scout leader in my first year of teaching; and as a teacher and an official of public schools in Mandaluyong, San Juan, Marikina and UP Integrated School until my retirement in 1999, I held various BSP positions. I stuck with the movement through the years because I looked up to it as way above politics.
I don’t know what came to the supposed-to-be-respectable BSP council members’ mind. Apparently they have decided to pattern the election of a BSP president after the existing political dynasty system in our society. What used to be a two-year term became almost forever with Binay dropping from the position after every two years. Even though they knew the evil of such a system, the council members surrendered a highly respected institution into the hands of politics. What else is there that Binay would leave untouched if it could serve his family’s political and personal interest?
I hope the Filipino people will wake up very soon to put an end to the rule of political dynasties in the country, including those in institutions where “democratic” elections are supposedly held. Let’s vote for the right leaders all the time!
—ELENA C. CUTIONGCO, elenacutiongco1@gmail.com