CHIZ OPPOSES PRIVATIZATION OF THE
GIRL SCOUTS OF THE PHILIPPINES

Opposition Senator Chiz Escudero sought the approval of a proposed new charter for the Girl Scouts of the Philippines (GSP) which celebrated on Tuesday its 69th founding anniversary.

"The GSP is one of the existing organizations in the country today that effectively promotes the objectives embodied as a Constitutional policy. We should not allow its treatment as a private institution erode the special status and support it has gained throughout its 68 years of existence," he said in a statement yesterday.

"The GSP's mission is to help girls and young women realize the ideals of womanhood and prepare them for their roles and responsibilities in the home and in nation-building," Escudero said.

The senator explained that Executive Order 495 issued during the administration of President Corazon Aquino superseded Commonwealth Act 542, the GSP's charter enacted on May 26, 1940, in line with its Corporate Rationalization Program.

By virtue of this EO, GSP has been ordered to convert itself into a private corporation and register with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Escudero warned that turning the GSP into a private corporation threatens its continuity as an organization "as it will be relatively easier to dissolve a private corporation than an organization mandated by law."

He also said that support from educational institutions and local government units could dry up once the GSP becomes an ordinary corporation.

Escudero has filed Senate Bill 2900 seeking to a new charter of the GSP with further amendments to provide the institution with permanence, structure and identity.

He added that as part of the 144-strong World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, the GSP helps promote and strengthen global unity and cooperation among young women all over the world.

"It also establishes open communications among girls and young women around the globe through correspondence and cultural exchanges and visits. The importance of the GSP to our girls and to the nation as well cannot be understated," Escudero said.