The Boy Scouts of the Philippines (BSP) has finally presented the winners of the national search for Ten Outstanding Boy Scouts of the Philippines (TOBS) during its awarding ceremony held last September 30, 2013 at the Philippine International Convention Center.

Proclaimed by Atty. Wendell E. Avisado, Acting BSP Secretary-General as creamiest of the cream, meaning topnotcher of this year’s search, was Chiang Kai Shek College’s very own Hanns Christian J. Chua. He led nine other winners chosen from across the country, including David Leonard P. Guzman (Cagayan North-Tuguegarao City), John Carlo P. Prieto (Marinduque), Justin Mikhail E. Hermosisima (Cebu), Hans Juris A. Artillero (Capiz), John Dennhel Y. Cruz (Bulacan), Kleio Alfric S. Tobias (Iloilo), Adrian Paul S. San Andres (Bulacan), Francis Eirick A. Tamayo (Dagupan City), and Elmer L. Delen (Batangas City).

The winners were chosen from the 23 finalists representing the 10 Scouting regions in the country and were selected from among hundreds of candidates from 117 local councils nationwide.

Now on its 24th year, the search began on the school and district levels, local council level, then the regional level, and finally the national level. The last leg of the competition was the interview at the BSP National Office last September 28.

Exclusively sponsored by Coca-Cola Far East, Ltd. and co-organized with the Department of Education, the annual search is the biggest event in the Scouting calendar for the country’s two million scouts.

The contest is for senior scouts, who are Filipino citizens, 15 to 17.5 years of age, and currently high school or college students.

Winners of the search each received two-year college scholarships amounting to thirty thousand pesos, cash prize of fifteen thousand pesos, a trophy, medals, and plaques. Criteria for selecting winners are community service, character development and bearing, and interview which was basis for communication skills and personality.

Hanns Chua was one of the lead cast of Pinoy Scout, an independent movie about Scouting and the environment produced by Exogain Films in cooperation with the Boy Scouts of the Philippines in 2010. He represented the Philippines to the 22nd World Scout Jamboree in Rinkaby, Sweden last 2011, during which he won many awards and accolades. He was also elected as the Council Scout Representative of Manila and the Regional Scout Representative of National Capital Region for 2013. Back in 2009, he was awarded as one of the Ten Outstanding Scouts of Manila (TOSM) for boy scouts in the grade school division. An Eagle Scout, he is also active in academics, community services, and music. He has been an honor student since grade school and has been playing the piano since grade 1. During the final interview for the TOBS competition, he made a lasting impression with the panel of judges when he defined humanity by citing Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s principles; that is, a human needs another human being in order to be a human. Mrs. Rosario Esperanza R. Brown, assistant high school supervisor for English instruction, trained him for the interview.

Hanns Christian Chua is the 26th CKSian to have won the coveted award. He followed the footsteps of his predecessors and previous winners Mel Anthony Y. Cruz (1994), Jasper Hendrik T. Cheng (1995), Kenneth Y. Chan (1997), Kervin Clyde C. Go (1998), Ryan Dennison T. Chan and Richard C. Obiles (1999), Marvin Boni Ang G. Go (2000), Wesley Spencer D. See (2001), Kendwin Eddrick Y. Ku (2002), Sam Christian G. Lee and Brainard Lombard C. Ho (2004), Bruce Willis W. Sing and Almeric Jay S. Lim (2005), Adrian Jonathan D. Velasco and Joshua Rex T. Cheng (2006), Adrian Joseph B. Tan and Paul Julian G. Hao (2007), Dann Julius S. Tan (2008), George O. Tanlimco Jr. (2009), Eugene Lester R. Lin, Harvey R. Li, and Jeffrey T. Dy (2010), Henry Jefferson C. Morco (2011), Austin Bennett L. Ong and Charles C. Li (2012). Just like Hanns, six of the previous CKSC TOBS also topped their respective batches, including Mel Cruz, Marvin Go, Wesley See, Bruce Sing, Adrian Tan, and Austin Ong.