29/07/2026
24 Scouts. One flight. A nation forever changed.
Sixty-three years ago, 24 Filipino Scouts and scout leaders boarded a flight to represent the nation. Instead, they became part of its history.
By Mia Magdalena Fokno
July 28, 2026
They came from Manila and Baguio. From Cavite, Tarlac, Negros Oriental, Dagupan, Quezon City, Zamboanga, Cebu, and many other parts of the country.
Some were barely teenagers.
All wore the same Scout uniform.
All carried the same dream: to represent the Philippines at the 11th World Scout Jamboree in Marathon, near Athens, Greece.
None of them made it there.
On July 28, 1963, the 24-member Philippine delegation of scouts and scout leaders perished when United Arab Airlines Flight 869 crashed into the Arabian Sea while approaching Bombay, now Mumbai, India. All 63 people aboard the aircraft were killed.
For many Filipinos today, it is a forgotten chapter of history.
For the Scouting movement, it remains one of its deepest wounds.
Just days before the trip, the delegation paid a courtesy call on President Diosdado Macapagal. Families gathered at the airport to send them off, believing they would soon return with stories from the largest gathering of Scouts in the world.
Instead, the nation received news that their aircraft had gone down before reaching its destination.
The delegation was composed of young men selected not merely because they loved Scouting, but because they embodied its ideals of leadership, service, discipline, and love of country.
Among those who lost their lives were:
Ramon Valdes Albano – Manila
Patricio Dulay Bayoran Jr. – Pasay
Gabriel Nicolas Borromeo – Manila
Roberto Corpus Castor – Quezon City
Henry Cabrera Chuatoco – Manila
Victor Oteyza de Guia Jr. – Baguio City
Jose Antonio C. Delgado – Manila
Felix Palma Fuentebella Jr. – Manila
Pedro Hermano Gandia – Manila
Antonio Mariano Limbaga – Zamboanga City
Roberto del Prado Lozano – Dagupan City
Paulo Cabrera Madriñan – Pasay City
Jose Fermin G. Magbanua – Negros Oriental
Romeo Rafael Rallos – Quezon City
Filamer Santos Reyes – Cavite
Wilfredo Mendoza Santiago – Manila
Benecio Suarez Tobias – Tarlac
Antonio Rios Torillo – Cavite
Ascario Ampil Tuason – Manila
Rogelio Celis Ybardolaza – Quezon City
They were accompanied by Dr. Bonifacio Vitan Lazcano, the delegation physician; Fr. Jose Agcaoili Martinez Jr., S.J., chaplain; and assistant scoutmasters Librado L. S. Fernandez and Florentino Lirio Ojeda.
Their lives ended thousands of kilometers from home.
Their legacy did not.
Many Filipinos pass through Quezon City’s Scout Area without realizing that its streets are themselves a memorial. Twenty-four roads bear the names of the young scouts and leaders who never reached the World Jamboree, ensuring that their sacrifice remains woven into the country’s landscape.
Every July 28, the Boy Scouts of the Philippines observes Scout Memorial Day, remembering not only how they died, but why they were making the journey, to carry the Philippine flag and represent the nation before the world.
Sixty-three years later, their uniforms have long faded.
The flight they boarded never reached Greece.
But the ideals they carried continue to travel.
Every Filipino Scout who raises three fingers in salute, recites the Scout Oath, and chooses service over self walks a path once dreamed of by those 24 young Filipinos.
Some journeys end far too soon.
Theirs became a legacy that has endured for more than six decades, and a reminder that a life devoted to service can leave footprints long after the journey itself has ended.
Image: From Flashback in Today’s Philippine History by Andrew Galero Navarro. Philippine Copyright 2010. ISBN 978-971-92566-9-4.
