Over 23,000 scouts join 33rd Asia-Pacific Jamboree in Zambales

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December 20, 2025 | 11:26am

BOTOLAN, Zambales — A total of 23,867 participants, including 441 international scouts, from 20 countries across the region are here at Camp Zambales for the weeklong 33rd Asia-Pacific Regional Scouts Jamboree (APRSJ), described as the biggest scouts gathering in the region so far.

Zambales Gov. Hermogenes Ebdane Jr., who is designated Camp Chief, said the delegates came from Kuwait, Bangladesh, United States, Korea, Taiwan, Maldives, Hong Kong, Australia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Indonesia, Mongolia, Thailand, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Timor Leste and the Philippines.

Among the foreign scout leaders present are two “royalties” of the scouting movement—David Robert Baden-Powell, who is the 5th Baron Baden-Powell and great-grandson of the Scouting movement’s founder Lord Robert Baden-Powell, and David’s daughter Charlotte Baden-Powell.

Last Monday, fireworks lit the sky and delegates danced to a high-energy celebratory song, as Ebdane declared the formal opening of Camp Zambales, the sprawling 62-hectare campsite at Barangay San Juan here.

“Today’s jamboree is more than a gathering, it’s a training ground for future leaders—leaders who will protect the environment, strengthen communities, promote peace, and face challenges with courage and compassion,”

Ebdane said. “As scouts across the Asia-Pacific region come together, you remind us that unity and cooperation can overcome differences,” he added.

Boy Scouts of the Philippines National President Emilio B. Aquino, meanwhile, underscored the country’s pride for hosting the international event.

“For the Philippines, hosting the 33rd Asia-Pacific Regional Scout Jamboree is both an honor and a responsibility. It reflects our enduring belief in the transformative power of Scouting and our commitment to contribute meaningfully to the Asia-Pacific Region and the global Scout Movement,” he said.

“This Jamboree stands as living proof that when young people come together with shared values, they become agents of peace, resilience, and positive change,” Aquino further stated.

Malaysian scout leader Dato’ Dr. Mohd Zin Bin Bidin, who chairs the Asia-Pacific Regional Scout Committee, said that with close to 24,000 participants, the Botolan jamboree “is the biggest open-air classroom in the world.”

“This reflects the heart of our region,” Bidin said. “With 33 member-countries and about 37 million scouts, the Asia-Pacific is the most diverse scouting region in the world—and the most powerful.”

The high turnout is largely attributed to the well-appointed 62-hectare site developed by the Zambales provincial government in just 13 weeks prior to the event.

Camp Zambales boasts of a sprawling area for six sub-camps and 65 tent clusters, a 56,859-sqm activity center, souvenir shops and market place, convention-type tents for religious and social gatherings, as well as shower and toilet facilities spread out across the site. Dr. Bidin said the campsite was developed at a cost of around US$1 million.

Meanwhile, medical teams, as well as contingents from the local police and the Philippine Army are also in position at the encampment to ensure the safety and security of jamboree participants, Ebdane said.

The 33rd Asia-Pacific Regional Scouts Jamboree, which is the fourth of its kind to be held in the country since 1973 and the first to be hosted in Zambales, will end on Sunday, December 21.