In 1946, the Grand Council of the Order of DeMolay granted a Letters Temporary to Lapu-Lapu Chapter in the Philippines. However, due to insufficient knowledge regarding the DeMolay Movement, the majority of Dad Masons forming the Advisory Council trained the new members as boy scouts. This led to a loss of interest among members, eventually causing the Dad Masons to lose interest as well. Upon the return of Dad Causing or Col. Juan K. Causing, a World War II veteran and hero who was also a Past Master of Maktan Masonic Lodge No. 30, Cebu City, from his assignment as a colonel in the Armed Forces of the Philippines, he discovered that the Letters Temporary had been forfeited due to inactivity.
As he was being sent to the United States of America by the Armed Forces of the Philippines, he took the opportunity to visit the Grand Council in Kansas City, Missouri, and explained to the Grand Secretary, Dad Frank S. Land, the beloved Founder of the Order of DeMolay, the possible causes of the chapter’s inactivity. After hearing Dad Causing’s explanation, the Grand Council granted another Letters Temporary to Lapu-Lapu Chapter, appointing Dad Causing as the Chapter Advisor.
On January 6, 1957, Lapu-Lapu Chapter was established with 30 members chartered under the sponsorship of Maktan Masonic Lodge No. 30. The charter members received the Initiatory and DeMolay degrees conferred by a selected group of Dad Masons led by Dad Edgar Shepley, PMC, PSMC, who was an exceptional Master Mason and later became a Grand Master of Mason of the Philippines. Bro. Henry T. Yap was installed as the first Master Councilor, and Dad Juan K. Causing as the Founder.
On March 7, 1958, the International Supreme Council of the Order of DeMolay in Kansas City, U.S.A. granted Lapu-Lapu Chapter as the Mother Chapter of the Visayas Jurisdiction. With Dad Juan K. Causing’s leadership and guidance as Chapter Advisor, Lapu-Lapu Chapter grew to become one of the distinguished chapters in the Philippines. Since then, Lapu-Lapu Chapter became one of the trailblazers in the expansion of the Philippine DeMolay youth movement, helping establish new chapters in the Visayas and Mindanao. In the succeeding years, Cebu Masonic Lodge No. 128, F. & A. M., and Cebu Bodies A. & A. S. R. joined the DeMolay movement, supporting and sponsoring Lapu-Lapu Chapter.
Credits to Bro. Jonathan Filoteo
Edited by Leg. John Louie Marfil, Chev, LOH, PP FDSAC #46
