00:00At isang pambihirang pagkakataon naman po ang nakuhan ng dalawang young Filipino students sa US
00:04nang makamit po nila ang rangong na Eagle Scouts sa Scouting America.
00:08Pero bago natin alamin ang kanilang kwento, panoorin muna natin ito.
00:13Sa Estados Unidos, ang rangong Eagle Scout ang pinakamataas na antas na maaring makamit sa ilalim ng Boy Scouts of America.
00:21Itinuturing itong simbolo ng katapangan, dedikasyon at walang sawang paglilingkod.
00:26Hindi basta-basta ang daan patungo rito, dahil kinakailangan ng maraming taon ng pagsasanay, pamumuno,
00:33pagbuo ng mga proyekto para sa komunidad at paghubog sa sariling pagkatao.
00:38At makalipas ng ilang taon, may ilang kabataang Pilipino ang tumindig bilang patunay na ang diwa ng Eagle Scout ay walang kinikilalang lahi.
00:47Kabilang narito ang dalawang kabataang Pilipino na matagumpay na naabot ang Eagle Scout rank.
00:53At yan ay si Derek De Leon at Andre De Los Santos.
00:56Kaya upang ibahagi sa atin ang kanilang scouting journey, ay kilalani na natin sila dito sa Rise and Shine, Pilipinas.
01:06Kaya naman makakasama natin si Derek De Leon at Andre De Los Santos live from the US.
01:13Hi Derek and Andre, welcome dito sa Rise and Shine, Pilipinas.
01:16Good morning and I think good afternoon dyan sa US.
01:20Alright, well congratulations to both of you for earning the Eagle Scout rank kasi napakaliit na porsyento lang daw talaga nakakakuha ng ranggo na ito sa scouting.
01:29So tell us your story, kailan ba nagsimula and what inspired you to start your journey to be an Eagle Scout.
01:35Si Derek muna and then si Andre, go ahead.
01:37For me, when I started, it was just my mom who told me about joining the Boy Scouts.
01:46But then, they were so welcoming whenever we went on trips and such and I just wanted to stay and camp.
01:56So whenever we went outdoors and such, it was really fun for me.
02:01So I decided to stay and I think I started when I was in middle school.
02:06So I was 10 years old when I started.
02:08How about you, Andre?
02:38Ang galing niya.
02:40He was a troop senior patrol leader then, junior assistant scoutmaster and I wanted to follow that too.
02:46Alright, I see that you have several merit badges, no?
02:51Derek, I wanna know ilan ba yung badges na dapat makuha, how many badges that you have to earn to be an Eagle Scout
02:58and to you both among those skills which ones are the most memorable or and the most challenging.
03:05Can you share it with us?
03:08So, for me, I have 25 badges but the minimum to be Eagle is 21 so there'll be some like this badge right here.
03:19It's cooking so that'll be like learning how to cook in the outdoors and what type of meals you'll get, how you'll get the food.
03:27But then there's also like nuclear science where you learn about like atoms, radiation and like the use of nuclear power.
03:35Wow.
03:36I think my favorite would probably be archery because, like you were saying before, it got me off the gadgets.
03:42It's a sport I really enjoyed and I learned how to make a bow, shoot really well actually.
03:50I won a few competitions with it and I think that one was my favorite.
03:56Okay, how about you, Andrey?
03:58So, my favorite personally was personal fitness because personal fitness to me is really important, staying healthy, staying physical.
04:08That's all stuff that I enjoy and love to do.
04:12So, for personal fitness merit badge, we had to do a 12-week fitness program where we had to track our workouts and show our improvement over time and we had to meet our personal health goals along with that.
04:27It tested my consistency, especially with school and other activities going on at that time.
04:33But finishing that merit badge, that's so rewarding, not just for the badge but because I saw real progress in myself physically and mentally.
04:44Nakakatuwa nung na-expose kayo sa iba't ibang kasanayan.
04:46So, si Derek may 25 badges.
04:48How about you, Andrey?
04:50How many badges ang meron ka na?
04:51I had around 50 when I finished.
04:55Wow, ang dami na nilang natutunan ka sa na yan.
04:58Alright, now as an Eagle Scout, ano yung advocacy nyo na gusto nyo pang gawin o ipagpatuloy bilang servisyo sa inyong communities o kaya naman baka magkaroon kayo ng pagkakataon na makabalik dito sa Pilipinas?
05:10Ano yung mga projects na gusto nyo i-pursue?
05:12Andrey?
05:12So, I want to keep helping the youth in my community, especially through mentoring, sports, and service projects.
05:22So, I visited the Philippines in 2016 together with my siblings where we donated school supplies and socks to my mom's hometown in Victoria's Negros Occidental.
05:36We also, yeah, we donated soccer shoes and sneakers to Don Bosco School.
05:47And if I ever get to visit the Philippines again, I'd love to do something meaningful there like a service project, like a youth workshop, something like that, something simple that could also be impactful to the community in the Philippines.
06:01Maganda mag-collab na kayo ni Derek, ano?
06:04Yes, para pagdating dito sa Pilipinas, isang one big project.
06:10Ito namang si Derek, kababayan ko yan, taga Tanawan, Batangas yan.
06:14Derek, ikaw, ano yung advocacy mo? And also, would like to pursue siguro pag nandito ka sa Philippines.
06:18So, for the Boy Scouts, what our motto is to do a good turn daily.
06:26And I want to continue with that motto because with Eagle Scouts, we have to complete the rank.
06:34We have to do a big service project and mine was taking old bikes from, let's say, people who didn't need them anymore or people who just had broken bikes.
06:47So, I took those, I repaired them and donated them to this organization that helped me give them out.
06:53And if I did go back to the Philippines, it'd be fun to replicate something like this.
07:00And instead of maybe using old bikes, we could buy new ones from America, ship them over.
07:07That would take a lot of work, but it would be really fun.
07:10Yeah, because I can see that you're a biker or you love biking.
07:16But now, I'm curious, aside from being an Eagle Scout, what else do you do?
07:20Which course you plan to take and which college?
07:25Derek?
07:28I'm going to continue doing biking.
07:30I do, there's like three main types of biking and I'm just pursuing the sport as much as possible.
07:36But in high school, I did running, swimming, and right now, I have two jobs as a lifeguard and I'm working as a mechanic in a bike shop.
07:48Saan ka magka-college, Derek?
07:49Saan ka anong course ang kukunin mo?
07:52Parang tita, stop it, ka?
07:57So, for college, I'm going to New York City.
08:01It's a small engineering school called the Cooper Union and I'm doing civil engineering.
08:05Because, for me, I want to fix all the bike lanes in the city because they're so annoying to get through.
08:14So, I feel like everyone's experienced it.
08:19If they've ever biked on the road, it's hard to get through every day.
08:22So, if I'm able to change someone's day when they're trying to commute to work or school.
08:27Ang galing, ano?
08:29Parang yung plano niya sa college, may advocacy rin after niya matapos.
08:32Yes, and hopefully, dito maka-play sa Pilipinas because there are a lot of bikers here in the Philippines.
08:37But we are very worried about the safety, about the right of way.
08:42At saka, maganda yan na yung practice ng biking kasi lesser carbon footprint.
08:47Yes, at na-exercise ka pa.
08:48Correct.
08:48Okay, kasi Andre naman.
08:50What else do you do and siguro ano yung mga plano mo also for your studies?
08:55Yes, so, okay.
08:58I also, like I said before, I do a lot of physical stuff.
09:03So, I do sports like taekwondo.
09:06For my school, I was varsity in wrestling, cross country, and tennis.
09:10But also, I have a, I'm working right now as a lifeguard in the American Dream Mall in New Jersey.
09:16But something I'm really passionate about is volunteering.
09:19I've been part of the Secaucus Cares volunteer group, which is a nonprofit volunteer organization in my town, where we help with donations, food drives, hygiene kits.
09:34And we give those to people in need.
09:38And wherever they need support, we try helping them.
09:41And for college, I'm planning on going to NJIT, the New Jersey Institute of Technology, and I plan to study finance and technology.
09:52Nice. Very techie ang ating dalawang boy scouts.
09:56Okay, well, for you personally, sa inyong dalawa, what does it mean to be an Eagle Scout?
10:00At siguro ano yung message na rin sa iba pa mga kabataan na nanonood ngayon would like also to try scouting?
10:07Andre?
10:07For me, being an Eagle Scout means to stand firm in your values and always doing the right thing, even when no one's watching.
10:18It's about leadership, service, and always being a good example to others and being to lead people when they really need it.
10:26And to the young people watching, I want to say stay focused, work hard.
10:32Don't be afraid to step up and take initiative, take lead.
10:37Every small effort counts and you can make a real difference in your community.
10:42How about you, Derek?
10:43For me, as we've said so many times, us Eagle Scouts, I think one of the biggest values is to care about the community, but it's also about to care about yourself and self-improvement.
10:58And you can, we've been doing this by just learning all these merit badges, learning different life skills.
11:08And I feel like this would work on my message to whoever wants to know.
11:14It's, um, I think kids should just be curious because the greatest way to learn anything in life is to actually know about, want to know about the subject.
11:27It makes it a lot easier to do hard, grueling tasks if you like what you're doing.
11:34Well, congratulations ulit, ha, sa inyong dalawa.
11:37At syempre, very proud naman kami, ano, mga kababayan ninyo.
11:40Yeah, pinoy pride.
11:41Maraming salamat, Derek DeLeon and Andrew De Los Santos, mga Eagle Scouts sa Scouting America.
11:47At may marami kayong ma-inspire ng mga kabata na subukan na ng scouting at magsulong ng iba't-ibang advocacy para sa kanilang community.
11:53Thank you very much.
11:54Thank you. Take care.
11:56Thank you very much.
